Australian Body Needed to Investigate Wrongful Convictions
Legal experts have called for the establishment of a new national body to investigate possible wrongful convictions, which would work in a similar way to the review body in the UK. Flinders University law lecturer Bibi Sangha believes such a...
Accused ‘Home Invasion Killer’ Released on Bail
Accused ‘burglar killer’ Ben Batterham says he is ‘very relieved’ to be out of custody, after being granted bail by Magistrate Robert Stone in Newcastle Local Court yesterday. Battherham was granted bail on a $200,000 security. He will need to...
Examples of Why Crime Doesn’t Pay
Just for laughs, we’ve rounded up some of the funniest (attempted) offences from around the globe. 1. A low high A trio of thieves breaking into a home discovered three jars of cocaine, and couldn’t believe their luck! They took...
Judge’s Associate Allegedly Dupes Judge into Providing Reference
Media sources have reported that ‘Sydney lawyer’ James Cowled, 31, is under investigation after allegedly procuring a character reference from recently retired Federal Court Judge Michael Lloyd-James under false pretences, and using it during his sentencing proceedings to avoid a...
Police Officers Misuse Private Information for Personal Gain
Queensland’s Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) continues to investigate the unauthorised use of sensitive government databases by the State’s Police Service. Since 1st July 2015, the CCC has completed 15 investigations into unauthorised access to confidential information, resulting in 81...
Teen So Rich He Couldn’t Tell Right from Wrong, Judge Finds
An American teenager who popularised the ‘affluenza defence’ has been arrested for breaching his probation. In 2013, 16-year-old Ethan Couch was sentenced to 10 years’ probation after killing four people in a drink driving incident. During his sentencing hearing, Couch’s...
Children to Face a Fortnight of Police Questioning
The Baird government, having just passed laws giving police unchallengeable power over the movement of individuals, are now proposing laws which allow police to detain and question young people for up to a fortnight, without charging them with any offence....
NSW Police Force: A Law Unto Themselves
New powers given to police are looking even worse than initially feared, as concerned groups delve into the breadth of their applicability. The NSW Bar Association points out that new ‘public safety orders’ (PSOs) and ‘serious crime prevention orders’ (SCPOs)...
Australian Government Shuts Journalists’ Mouths
World Press Freedom Day was celebrated on May 3, marking the 250th anniversary of the world’s first freedom of information law, which came into effect in Sweden and Finland. And just last year, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull stated that the...
Bank Error in Your Favour: Go to Jail or Collect $4.6 Million?
In the game of Monopoly, one of the Community Chest cards says: “Bank Error in Your Favour, Collect $200.” But, unfortunately, life is not always like Monopoly, as Sydney woman Christine Lee found out this week when she was arrested...
