mangakiko – Page 21 – Michmutters

Author: mangakiko

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Business

Wall Street’s surge may be a false dawn

Wall Street's surge may be a false dawn

While there were some fears that the Fed would add another 75 basis point hike next month, investors now expect a 50 basis point rise.

Essentially, the markets are pricing in more rate increases this year but in smaller increments as the Fed gains confidence that inflation, while still high, is retreating. While there are analysts who think the Fed will still be raising rates next year and that the federal funds rate will peak with a 4 in front of it, the markets are pricing something closer to 3.5 per cent.

There were fears Jerome Powell's US Fed would add another 75 basis point hike next month but investors now expect a 50 basis point rise.

There were fears Jerome Powell’s US Fed would add another 75 basis point hike next month but investors now expect a 50 basis point rise.Credit:AP

Sharemarkets are very sensitive to interest rates both because interest-bearing securities are an alternative to equities but also because long bond rates are used to calculate the net present value of future cash flows as a core approach to valuing companies. The lower the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bonds used to discount those cash flows the more they are worth.

If you step back from the shift in the markets since mid-June it would seem that they are signaling that the Fed can bring inflation under control without tightening monetary policy so severely that it plunges the US economy into a deep and prolonged recession. That doesn’t rule out something shallow and short but it’s certainly a more optimistic view that the worst fears earlier this year.

That optimism has been buttressed by the first real signs that the dysfunction in global supply chains that has been a major driver in soaring inflation rates around the world is easing, with the cost of shipping containers across the Pacific, for instance, plummeting to about a third of what it cost a year ago.

It’s also been helped by the fall in the oil price from more than $US123 a barrel to about $US97 a barrel and a consequent decline in US gasoline prices from more than $US5 a gallon to less than $US4 a gallon. The spike in oil prices after the Russian invasion of Ukraine was a contributor to the surge in inflation.

For the upturns in sharemarkets to be sustained, of course, the “go hard” (if not early) approach of the world’s key central banks, including the Reserve Bank, has to be successful in bringing down inflation rates substantially and have them trending clearly. towards their targeted level of about two per cent within the first half of next year.

That will entail a significant slowing of economic activity and a rise in unemployment rates from near-record lows.

While investors and markets are forward-looking – they price in what they expect to see in six to 12 months out rather than current conditions and settings – they might be underestimating what it will take to achieve the central bankers’ goals.

It is quite conceivable that the bullish run of the past month might be one of those bear market rallies – “dead cat bounces” – that trap risk-takers into thinking the worst is over. The rate rises so far haven’t yet impacted economic activity significantly and are yet to show up in corporate profits. Monetary policy takes time to bite.

Despite the apparent conviction of equity investors, these remain highly uncertain times.

There’s also something quite uncomfortable seeing volatility (as measured by the VIX, or “fear” index), falling back towards sub-20 levels from the mid-30s of mid-June even as the war in Ukraine continues and, with Taiwan acting as a new flash point, the tensions between China and the US increase.

China’s faltering economy and Europe’s energy crisis will also subtract from global growth even as the US and other western economies continue to slow.

A buoyant stock market isn’t consistent with a global recession and the easing of global market interest rates, despite the efforts of central banks, might be a better predictor of the deterioration in economic conditions ahead.

It is notable that retail investors have returned to the market – “meme” stocks like Bed Bath and Beyond and AMC Entertainment have soared during the current rally – which is something of a reverse signal that the market is still vulnerable.

It is premature to declare the battle against the biggest outbreak in inflation since the 1970s won or to start factoring in rate cuts in the second half of next year and think that the foundations for a new cycle of rising share prices is underway.

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The US inflation rate might have peaked and the peaking of others might be in sight but, in large parts of the world, inflation remains historically high, the current economic data is mixed and confusing, the real-world consequences of the efforts to control them have yet to play out and there is a disconnect between what the Fed has been doing and saying and the interpretations of its actions and statements that equity investors are pricing in.

Despite the apparent conviction of equity investors, these remain highly uncertain times.

The Market Recap newsletter is a wrap of the day’s trading. Get it each weandkday afternoon.

Categories
Technology

Unity’s new real-time Lion demo runs at 4K 30FPS on PlayStation 5

Unity's new real-time Lion demo runs at 4K 30FPS on PlayStation 5 01 | TweakTown.com

Unity teased its new real-time demo at SIGGRAPH 2022, with Lion debuting in the glorious 4K resolution and running at 30FPS on the Sony PlayStation 5.

The new Lion demo from Unity utilizes a bunch of Unity Engine features including some real-time hair and fur rendering, powered by Weta Digital’s new Wig hair and fur tool. Remember Unity purchased Weta Digital in late 2021, where Unity Technical Artist Sara Hansen explained the use of their tools in the new Lion demo: “Wig is a different way of working – it’s actually the fastest grooming tool that I’ve ever used“.

“A high-quality hero groom – which would take me several months in another grooming package – is much faster to create in Wig. It takes just a couple of weeks, and some grooms go from weeks to create in other tools to only one or few days in Wig, and at far better quality levels and with greater artist controllability… Even when you have to react to detailed art direction feedback notes, like adjusting a specific strand from a reference shot, it’s easy to author in Wig“.

Unity had to be updated in order to get the rendering of millions of individual strands of fur, which all over independently. The developer explains that “One set of improvements includes a new GPU-driven clustered hair simulation that enables millions of hair strands to react dynamically in real-time, part of the new Hair System released on Unity’s GitHub. This approach builds on the hair simulation used for the incredible Digital Human showcase, Enemies, and expands the method to handle several orders of magnitude more hair strands efficiently on GPU“.

“For hair and fur rendering, the graphics developers at Unity designed a set of improvements to a GPU tile-based software rasterization algorithm in HDRP, with significant optimization to render several million unique hair strands. This method achieved smooth visuals with analytic anti-aliasing with compute-sorted order independent transparency for hair strands and improved advanced physically-based hair lighting models for film-quality hair strand rendering“.

Unity's new real-time Lion demo runs at 4K 30FPS on PlayStation 5 01 | TweakTown.com

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Categories
Entertainment

Fran Kelly is fine and familiar, but she’s not the future of the ABC

Fran Kelly is fine and familiar, but she's not the future of the ABC

Now allow me to put on record that my disappointment has nothing to do with Fran Kelly as a broadcaster or person. I’m a big Fran-Fan, long-time listener, first-time complainer.

When she departed Radio National’s Breakfast Last year, I was the first one in the family group chat to send the link accompanied by the heartbreak emoji.

But I reckon even Fran would concede she’s had a pretty good run. She was on the microphone at Radio National for 17 years, which is the exact age of all the people who don’t listen to Triple J.

As a political journalist, Fran has runs on the board, but this type of show doesn’t sound like a vehicle that requires her expertise. Instead, it feels like a missed opportunity for the ABC to achieve two critical goals: reach a younger audience and spotlight emerging talent.

Ironically, the press release for frankly promises “frank yet fun chats” with “big thinkers and change-makers.”

But if we’re really being frank (yet fun), the ABC appears allergic to big thinking or change-making.

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Earlier this year, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age ran a story on how the same set of faces has dominated the Australian TV landscape for the past few decades.

As part of that piece, Tom Ballard, perhaps the last millennial to be given a chance by the ABC thanks to his 2017 chat show, tonightlypromptly identified the problem.

“At its worst, Australian TV just often feels suffocatingly safe,” Ballard said.

Rather than playing it safe and dusting off Kelly after six months on the shelf, the ABC should have invested in the future instead of pandering to the past.

A Friday night chat hosted by Fran Kelly might satisfy what’s left of the ABC’s boomer audience, but it’s a sign the broadcaster seems to have given up on high-production, prime-time content aimed at younger audiences. That’s bad for us, and it’s bad for ABC.

Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.

Categories
Sports

Manase Fainu: NRL rising star jailed, convicted of church stabbing

Manase Fainu: NRL rising star jailed, convicted of church stabbing

NRL young gun Manase Fainu has been jailed as he awaits sentencing over the stabbing of a Mormon church youth leader during a wild and bloody brawl.

A jury took just two hours to find Fainu guilty of plunging a steak knife into the back of Faamanu Levi at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at Wattle Grove in October, 2019.

The Crown prosecution made a detention application for Fainu to be sent to prison after he was found guilty of one count of wounding a person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years.

Defense barrister Margaret Cunneen SC previously flagged to the court the verdict would be appealed.

Judge Nanette Williams on Monday morning ordered the Manly Sea Eagles hooker to be taken into custody ahead of a sentence hearing later in the year.

During his trial, the court heard that one man Tony Quach had seen Fainu stab Mr Levi in ​​the back near his right shoulder blade during a late-night brawl in the church’s parking lot between two parked cars.

Another man, Kupi Toilalo, told the jury that he saw a man approach him and his friends with his left arm in a sling holding a knife.

It was not in dispute Fainu had undergone shoulder surgery a month earlier and had his arm in the sling at the time.

Fainu has been stood down from the NRL since the incident and has not played the last three seasons.

During the trial he denied playing any part in the stabbing or the brawl, claiming he stood back 10m because he was scared.

He said he began back-pedaling because he feared for his safety when he heard someone yell “knife, knife”.

Ms Cunneen told the court on Monday Fainu should be able to remain on bail after he had suffered an “enormous” and “unthinkable downfall”.

She said he needed time to adjust mentally and prepare financially for when he will be sentenced at a later date.

Ms Cunneen also tended to a character reference from Manly coach Des Hasler, who watched proceedings via audio visual link.

“This young man, Mr Fainu, had the promise of a most extraordinary football career ahead of him and that has been smashed,” Ms Cunnen said.

“Everyone would be entitled to say through his own fault he lost that.

“The necessary punishment the court must impose will also bring about the most extraordinary extra-curial punishment, that is the end of what had promised to be an extraordinary, exceptional stellar career in what Mr Hasler has described as the hardest game in the world. ”

The court heard he had previously battled prescription drug addiction and entered into rehabilitation.

His counselor Jan Earl told the court on Monday that Fainu had suffered a mental episode over the weekend, which involved him shaking uncontrollably, was being monitored by a mental health team and had to be prescribed anti-anxiety medication.

Ms Earl said that Fainu was feeling “great shame and remorse” and suffering depression, intrusive thoughts and suicidal ideation.

Ms Cunneen said that two of Fainu’s brothers, who were contracted to Manly, had paid his legal fees after the club advanced them money from their 2023 contracts

She argued he needed to make mental preparations to go into custody and ease the financial burden on his family, having been offered work as a laborer.

However Crown prosecutor Emma Curran said none of that amounted to special or exceptional circumstances.

During Fainu’s trial, the court heard that prior to the brawl, two of his friends – including Uona “Big Buck” Faingaa – were involved in an altercation on the church dance floor and escorted out.

Fainu told the jury he went to church dance with four of his friends because Mr Faingaa was seeking to collect money owed to him by a man for a concreting job.

He said he left the church grounds as his mates were being escorted out and apologized to a security guard for his friends’ behavior as he exited.

CCTV played to the jury showed Fainu, with his arm in a sling, jump the fence from an adjoining Coles car park back into the church grounds shortly before the brawl.

Fainu testified that he had told his friends that he would go inside to collect Mr Faingaa’s money by himself, however they followed him over.

Fainu told Ms Curran during his evidence he jumped the fence despite admitting that he could have walked back in the front gate.

More to eat.

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Categories
Australia

Indigenous Sydney teen ‘tripped’ by police officer officer describes bloody injuries in court

Play Video. Duration: 43 seconds

An Indigenous teenager whose arrest resulted in a NSW Police officer being charged with assault has told a Sydney court he fell unconscious after being “tripped” and was spitting blood because his face hit the ground.

Constable Ryan Barlow, 30, was with two junior colleagues in Ward Park in Surry Hills when they stopped three teenagers in June 2020.

Part of the interaction was filmed on a mobile phone, showing one of the teenagers, then 16, speaking to Constable Barlow before saying he would “crack” the officer in the jaw.

The video shows Constable Barlow then used a technique known as a leg sweep, in which he kicked the complainant’s feet out from underneath him while holding his arms from behind, causing him to fall forwards.

Constable Barlow has pleaded not guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The teenager told Sydney’s Downing Center Local Court he remembered being “spun around” by the officer before being “tripped” and denied doing anything to resist.

A nurse holds a boy's hand, while he sits down
Doctors attend to the boy at St Vincent’s Hospital.(Facebook: Justice for Buddy, Lewis Kelly Jnr)

He recalled his knee hitting the ground first, followed by his shoulder and the cheek area of ​​his face.

In the video, he can be heard making a high-pitched moaning sound while on the ground.

He told the court he was unconscious after he fell and has no memory of what happened until he was sat up, when he recalled spitting blood.

“I don’t even remember making those noises,” he said.

The teenager said he recalled “going off my head” while sitting.

“I just lost it. Got angry, I guess.”

He said Constable Barlow was holding him at the back part of his neck and he told him to stop “squeezing” it, but the officer didn’t.

“He pulled out capsicum spray and told my friends to go away.”

The teenager said he made the comment about cracking the officer in the jaw out of “frustration”, after hearing one of his friends defend himself.

“What were you frustrated about?” Crown Prosecutor Darren Robinson asked.

“That I can’t, you know, go to my own park [without being] harassed by police.”

Mr Robinson earlier told the court an expert in the use of force is expected to testify that the leg sweep technique is not the methodology taught to NSW Police Force officers, however it is not prohibited.

“The prosecution says the force used by the accused was not reasonably necessary in the circumstances,” he said.

Mr Robinson said Constable Barlow gave a version of the incident during an interview which “contradicted” the video, including that the complainant “tensed” his body and attempted to break free.

The court was told the complainant’s injuries included cuts and abrasions to his leg and chin, soreness and pain to his neck, a chipped tooth and bleeding from an injury to the mouth.

Constable Barlow’s barrister, Brent Haverfield, said there would be “an element of self-defence” in the matter.

The hearing, before Magistrate Rami Attia, has been set down for three days.

Under cross-examination, the teenager accepted he was told he was under arrest shortly before the leg sweep.

He also accepted the video showed that while Constable Barlow was behind him, his right leg moved backwards, but denied this was an attempt to kick the officer.

“I don’t accept I was trying to hurt anyone,” he said.

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Categories
Business

More than 40% of Australian employers allow work from home full time

More than 40% of Australian employers allow work from home full time

More than four in every 10 companies no longer expect their staff to show up to the office.

A survey of nearly 1,200 companies, conducted by the Australian HR Institute in July, found just 4 per cent required employees to work in the office full-time.

Of those surveyed, 7 per cent of organizations allowed employees to work from home continuously, while 34 per cent had no set number of days required in the office but did encourage it.

The average proportion of employees working continuously from home has increased from 5 per cent before the pandemic to 18 per cent.

Almost 30 per cent of companies are requiring a minimum of three days a week in the office and 16 per cent request two days.

More than half of the organizations revealed they were offering incentives to lure staff back to the office, such as social events and free coffee or meals.

Those surveyed reported that before the pandemic, on average 23 per cent of employees worked from home at least one day a week. Now it’s 58 per cent.

More than half of the human resources professionals surveyed expected that working from home or remote working arrangements would remain the same over the next two years, while 25 per cent predicted that the rate of working from home and remote working would increase.

This is despite 65 per cent of them reporting that employees were feeling disconnected from their colleagues due to work from home arrangements.

AHRI chief executive Sarah McCann-Bartlett said the survey results showed companies needed to invest more resources into redesigning work processes to adapt.

“Most organizations are thinking about hybrid work only in terms of location, but there

are other factors that need to be considered,” she said.

“Hybrid work models need to be designed with connection in mind. And those connections need to be meaningful.”

Flexible working arrangements do not just include working from home.

Almost 30 per cent of companies said they were planning to introduce or expand compressed hours, like a four-day work week or nine-day fortnight.

Work from home demand

“Work from home” is the top keyword searched on employment marketplace Seek, with many jobseekers choosing to search it over any job title or industry.

“Instead of just searching for … a software programming job, instead of putting those words into the keyword search, they’re putting work from home,” Seek senior economist Matt Cowgill told news.com.au.

“People are telling us as well when we ask them that they are likely to resign and look for a different job if work from home isn’t offered.”

In a survey done by the company in May, 61 per cent of jobseekers said this.

But while the demand for remote working is clear, it is not reflected in the number of employers actually including “work from home” in their job ads – less than 5 per cent in fact do so.

“We have seen a significant rise in the proportion of jobs ads that say that people are able to work from home but it’s still perhaps surprisingly small overall,” Mr Cowgill said.

“We’re only seeing approximately 5 per cent of job ads on our platform explicitly mentioning those words and phrases – work from home, WFH, that type of thing.”

Mr Cowgill expected there would be more employers willing to offer flexibility but have not explicitly stated it in their job ads.

It was also noted that not all ads on the site could offer remote working due to the nature of the work.

Mr Cowgill said the mention of work from home in job ads is predominantly for the jobs you would expect – public service roles and white-collar professions.

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Categories
Technology

PlayStation Plus Subscribers Growing Frustrated by Lack of Retro Games

PlayStation Plus Subscribers Growing Frustrated by Lack of Retro Games

Sony is still offering its PlayStation Plus subscribers bundles of free games each month, and for the most part, those offerings have been received pretty well in July and in August. July’s games included Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan, and Arcadegeddon, for example, while August’s games are Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2, and little nightmares. While this is all well and good for PlayStation Plus Essential subscribers, those subscribed to the service’s Premium tier have been left wondering where all the retro and classic games are.

For those who didn’t pay the new tiers much mind when they went live in June, the PlayStation Plus Premium tier is meant to include a library of these classic games from the PlayStation 1, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation 3 era as well as some PlayStation Portable games, too. It does indeed provide that, but considering how many of those games were available previously through PlayStation Now before that service was merged into PlayStation Plus, subscribers were expecting continued classic and retro additions each month.

July’s PlayStation Plus Premium additions include Echoshift, No Heroes Allowed!, and LocoRoco Midnight Carnival from the PlayStation Portable era, but the August list of games did not include any titles exclusive to the Premium tier. After seeing just three classic games advertised as new additions since the new tiers went live in June, PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers seem to be growing impatient.

You can see some of the reactions to the lack of retro and classic games in the responses below. If there’s a game you want to see added to PlayStation Plus Premium, be sure to drop its name in our comments, too.

Are We Done?

prevnext

Were the Day-One Classics the Big Draw?

prevnext

Where Are the Retro Games?

prevnext

Asking for More Games

prevnext

Not Seeing the Point

prevnext

Have to Step It Up

prevnext

It Was Supposed to Be a Big Selling Point

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May As Well Downgrade to PlayStation Plus Extra

prevnext

Just Disappointed

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Categories
Entertainment

Who is Salman Rushdie? What is he famous for? Wasn’t he in Bridget Jones’ Diary?

A still of Salman Rushdie's cameo on Bridget Jones' Diary. He looks unimpressed.

Salman Rushdie is recovering with severe, “life-changing” injuries after being stabbed repeatedly before a scheduled public appearance in the US state of New York over the weekend.

He was due to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution when a man ran on stage and stabbed him.

Two days after the attack, Rushdie’s son, Zafar Rushdie, said his father was well enough to be taken off a ventilator, had been able to speak and his “usual feisty and defiant sense of humor” was still intact.

Here’s a shortcut guide to Rushdie’s story, why some people wanted him dead and how that made him fodder for sitcom jokes.

Who is Salman Rushdie?

Rushdie is an author, best known for his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses — dubbed by publishing house Penguin Books as one of the most controversial books of modern times.

A cover for Salman Rushdie's 1988 novel The Satanic Verses.
Rushdie has been subjected to death threats over this novel. (Supplied: Pengiun Books)

The 75-year-old was born into a Muslim Kashmiri family in Bombay, now Mumbai, before moving to the UK.

He now lives in New York City as a US citizen.

Rushdie is a self-described lapse of Muslim and “hardline atheist.”

Why would someone want to kill him?

Some Muslims said The Satanic Verses contained blasphemous passages and mocked their beliefs.

The novel draws on elements of the life of Islamic Prophet Mohammed and the origin story of the Qur’an.

Theological scholar Myriam Renaud unpacked some of the criticisms in a piece for the Conversation in 2017:

Rushdie chooses a provocative name for Mohammed. The novel’s version of the Prophet is called Mahound — an alternative name for Mohammed sometimes used during the Middle Ages by Christians who considered him a devil.

And:

In Rushdie’s book, Salman [a character in the novel]for example, attributes certain actual passages in the Qur’an that place men “in charge of women” and give men the right to strike wives from whom they “fear arrogance”, to Mahound’s sexist views.

In 1989, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Iran’s supreme leader, pronounced a fatwa calling upon Muslims to kill Rushdie.

The British government responded by putting him under police protection, with Rushdie going into hiding for nearly a decade.

Rushdie professed his profound regret for causing distress to Muslims while he was in hiding, according to the BBC, but the fatwa remained.

While he has lived a freer existence since Iran’s then-president Mohammad Khatami said the affair was “completely finished” in 1998, there were still many who wanted him dead.

A bounty of more than $US3 million was offered for his murder.

What is he famous for?

Rushdie is an acclaimed author, with a knighthood for services to literature and a Booker Prize under his belt.

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Categories
Sports

Collingwood AFL captain Scott Pendlebury’s Elwood house just sold for $6.5 million, but it wasn’t easy. Here’s how it was done.

Collingwood AFL captain Scott Pendlebury's Elwood house just sold for $6.5 million, but it wasn't easy. Here's how it was done.

Was it overpriced? Nope.

What did you think it would go for? I can’t comment on the sale price. I thought it would go for about $6 million.

What was surprising about it?

When you’re keeping things as private as possible, sometimes you wonder whether you are finding absolutely everyone you need to engage with.

Alex and Scott Pendlebury and their children celebrate his 350th Collingwood game during the round 18 AFL match between the Adelaide Crows and the Collingwood Magpies last month. Getty

You’re focusing on a very specific group of people who happen to be active at the time and you hope that those are the best possible people for the house. You’re trying to create maximum competition with very few people. That was quite tricky.

We didn’t use a large “hero” shot from the front of the house. They didn’t particularly want everyone knowing what it looked like from the street for privacy purposes.

Long time, slow market: the four-bedroom, four-bathroom house with studio above a double garage sold after seven weeks on market for $6.5 million.

Initially, we did try to keep things private. We tried to keep the address private. We would only bring a handful of people through.

We brought in a couple of agents who are local and good operators. We wanted to suss out if they had clients who might be interested as we could try to create competition that way.

You can’t give the market a sniff you’re trying to move it urgently, particularly if you come to the end of a campaign.

— Agent Joel Fredman

The numbers were pretty low. There aren’t that many people who have $6 million-plus to spend in Elwood. We always kept the viewings private, but we did step up the marketing process to make sure we were finding new people.

When you have an asset like this, at a unique price and not much to compare with, it’s a matter of holding your ground and waiting for buyers to reach out to you.

You try to create some urgency with the expressions of interest campaign, but if you don’t get there … you can’t give the market a sniff you’re trying to move it urgently, particularly if you come to the end of an expressions of interest campaign. We said: “We’ll wait.”

Did you have any bargain hunters?

I did have a couple of people. They were nowhere near what we were looking at. You have people who see value at a much lower level. You obviously give them the time of day, but you’re not going to give them a sniff.

When it works, it works brilliantly. When it doesn’t sell you have to have a protective process to convert it from there. We actually converted the campaign into a private sale. It was very much a matter of “wait and see who contacts us”.

Did you have to reassure your clients?

We said: “Just sit tight. We’re waiting for the right buyer.” Lo and behold, it was a couple of weeks after the EOI, we had a few new inquiries and booked them in and there we go.

But we did have to choose – do you make the decision to go with the bird in hand, when we know we’ve got the sale? Or do we keep those buyers engaged, keep them warm and see what happens? Thank God we did.

Do you reckon we’ll see another result like this: a) next week b) next year c) next cycle d) never?

d) Never. It’ll be a difficult one to replicate – I’m not sure when that will happen.

Categories
Australia

Not guilty plea entered for Adelaide man accused of attempted rape of schoolgirl at bus stop

A bus stop at Gilberton on Walkerville Terrace.

An Adelaide magistrate has committed a man to stand trial in the District Court for the attempted rape of a 13-year-old schoolgirl after he told the court he “just doesn’t care anymore.”

Anthony James Stengewis, 52, has been charged with attempting to engage in sexual intercourse without consent and assault with attempt to commit rape.

Staff at the secure mental health facility James Nash House, where Mr Stengewis has been in custody, told Magistrate John Wells that he did not want to appear in court this morning.

“He just doesn’t care anymore,” the staff told Magistrate Wells.

His lawyers then conceded Mr Stengewis had a case to answer.

Magistrate John Wells said he would take that as a “not guilty” plea before sending his case to the District Court in November.

In February, the court heard Mr Stengewis asked the schoolgirl, who was waiting at a Gilberton bus stop, if she had a boyfriend before allegedly pushing her into a garden bed and attempting to rape her.

“The male didn’t stop and there was no-one else around,” the prosecutor said while opposing bail in February.

“The victim started kicking the male to the stomach and groin area.”

The court heard Mr Stengewis was living in a rooming house in Medindie – two-to-three minutes walk from the alleged crime scene — and after the alleged attempted rape walked off in that direction.

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