An outback musician and dedicated Northern Territory music school teacher has not only had her 1999 Toyota troop carrier stolen from a popular restaurant overnight, but also her beloved 1935 Roth violin.
Key points:
Gleny Rae’s car and beloved violin were stolen outside Simply Korean on Gap Road between about 6:45 and 7:30pm last night
She is devastated that the violin which she has had for 35 years is missing
Rae now questions the reasons for staying in a town where people don’t feel safe to go out
Gleny Rae has lived in Alice Springs for two years and is a regular on the music scene in Alice Springs and across Australia, recently appearing in the documentary I’m Wanita.
“I’ve just stopped into Simply Korean on Gap Road for a quick bite to eat with a friend between about 6:45 and 7:30pm,” she said.
“When we came out there were three cars with their windows smashed. I was cleaning my friend’s car and I was looking at that going ‘oh no!'”
It was at that moment that Rae realized that her car had been stolen.
“That’s the moment when your heart just about leaps out of your mouth and I can see the smashed glass where it was parked,” she said.
violin gone
Rae’s prized possessions of a 1935 Roth violin and two bows were also in the car.
She is desperate for the instrument to be returned.
Gleny Rae and her beloved violin stolen this week in Alice Springs.(Supplied: Gleny Rae)
“I very rarely go anywhere without my violin and I left it in the car, in the back, out of sight,” she said.
It is the sentimental worth that has Rae desperate to find the 87-year-old instrument.
“It’s just a part of my body. It’s an extension of me,” she said.
“It was a violin that my mum bought for me when I was still at the [Sydney] Conservatory High School.”
Rae was 16 years old and was told that she needed a better violin.
“So off we went to the violin shop. And we chose that one,” she said.
Rae is deeply upset that the violin might get damaged.
“I hear that when vehicles are stolen stuff gets thrown out of them,” she said.
“It breaks my heart to think that it could be smashed or damaged for no reason.”
Crime taking its toll
Gleny Rae’s troopy was stolen at a local restaurant on Tuesday evening along with her violin.(Supplied: Gleny Rae)
Rae’s car window was also smashed several weeks ago outside a popular bar where she had been performing.
“You can’t even go to dinner without feeling safe, or that your vehicle is safe,” she said.
“And that’s really sad.”
loading
She said that it is having a direct effect on lifestyles in the outback town and she has now questioned why she remains in Alice Springs.
“It’s sad for all the businesses, it’s sad for the residents,” she said.
“It’s sad for entertainers, because I know a lot of times people won’t go out to gigs because they don’t want to leave their car.”
The violin case is blue canvas and the registration number for the vehicle is C35UL.
A woman who fatally injured a pedestrian with her car in the Adelaide Hills later told police she had drunk two sixpacks of beer before getting behind the wheel.
Key points:
Lisa Trewren hit and killed pedestrian David Hoy on Mount Barker Road
The judge said she was cowardly in trying to dissuade a passenger from calling police
She will spend time in jail and be banned from driving for 15 years
Lisa Marie Trewren, 39, was sentenced today to eight years in prison for the death of 31-year-old David Hoy at Totness on December 20 last year.
Mr Hoy – who was also known as Amy – had been collecting cans on the side of Mount Barker Road that night when Trewren lost control of her car and struck him, causing fatal injuries.
The District Court heard she had earlier driven from Murray Bridge to her ex-partner’s house at Hahndorf.
David Hoy collected cans and bottles for money and to keep the streets clean. (Facebook)
The man told police they drove to a beach where Trewren stayed in the car drinking beer to the point of vomiting.
The court heard on the return to Hahndorf, Trewren insisted on going back to Murray Bridge, ignoring warnings from her former partner not to drive, a decision the sentencing judge called “astonishing”.
“By your selfish and totally irresponsible and drunken action that night you would take the life of another person,” Judge Paul Muscat said.
Immediately after fatally injuring Mr Hoy, a passenger in Trewren’s car rang police, prompting threats from Trewren that were recorded by the police operator.
“That you later attempted to dissuade [the passenger] from calling the authorities was not only totally unacceptable but selfish and cowardly behaviour,” Judge Muscat said.
Trewren was already disqualified from driving for a drink-driving charge in May last year.
Trewren’s car after the crash on Mount Barker Road at Totness.(abcnews)
In sentencing, Judge Muscat acknowledged Trewren’s problems with mental health, which deteriorated after her mother died in 2019 and contributed to her drinking as well as her remorse and early guilty plea.
But he said her actions carried a high level of moral culpability.
Trewren’s sentence was discounted by 25 per cent for an early guilty plea.
She must serve four years and nine months before being eligible for parole and is banned from driving for 15 years upon release.
Born with no legs and the use of only his right arm, Steve Lyons relies on his skateboard to get around.
“I switched from prosthetic legs, which I’d used from the age of five, to a skateboard at the age of 16 and have used a skateboard ever since,” Mr Lyons said.
As a young child, Steve wore prosthetic legs to go out, which he used until age 16 when he started using a skateboard.(Supplied: Michael Sheppard)
“I’m now 47 and using my shoulder as a hip for all that time [using a manual skateboard] means that it doesn’t work anymore.”
He now has an electric skateboard, which he said gave him autonomy on a whole new level.
“It’s the holy grail of living with disability — you want that autonomy and being able to do what you want, it’s above independence.”
Prior to the electric skateboard, Mr Lyons said he would have to find a disabled park close to the shopping center so he could get out, move around and get back with relative ease.
“With this thing, I can park anywhere I want where there’s a reasonable parking space and I can go and do what I need to do.” he said.
“I can go from one end of the CBD to another without any problems.”
But despite ordering the electric skateboard through his NDIS funding, it is illegal for Mr Lyons to use it where he lives in Port Macquarie on the NSW Mid North Coast.
“I know there are a lot of people with physical disabilities who use [electric] skateboards or scooters because they prefer them over wheelchairs, but at the moment anyone that’s using one of those as a mobility aid is breaking the law,” he said.
In most Australian states — except Queensland, the ACT and the Northern Territory — electric skateboards and electric scooters are illegal to use on public roads, footpaths and public recreational areas.
E-scooters are the only electric PMD allowed in a NSW trial and they must be from the E-scooter Shared Scheme.(Supplied: Mack Male CC image from Flickr)
In NSW, the state government is running a trial in some council areas to allow electric scooters (e-scooters) to be used on designated bike paths and bike lanes with speed restrictions and a minimum age limit of 16 and safety requirements in place.
But Mr Lyons said he was concerned the trial did not consider all electric personal mobility devices (PMDs), including skateboards, or reference their use by people with disabilities.
Steve Lyons has approached his local state MP Leslie Williams about getting electric PMDs, including skateboards, classed as mobility aids for people with a medical condition or disability.
Steve Lyons on his manual skateboard coaching in the Port Macquarie Roller Derby League.(Supplied: Wild Cherry Photography)
A spokesperson for Ms Williams said she would not comment on individual correspondence, but the ABC understands the MP has been advocating for the devices to be legally recognized as mobility aids for those who need them and that she has met with NSW Minister for Active Transport Rob Stokes to discuss the issue.
Transport for NSW told the ABC that it would review “a range of regulations, including the use of e-mobility as medical aids” as the trial progresses.
“We will seek to engage with the community, including people with disabilities, and continue to listen to feedback throughout the trial as they continue to explore the future of e-scooters and e-mobility in the state,” a spokesperson said in a statement .
“In response to a request from Minister Stokes, Transport for NSW will review the potential to include e-mobility devices as medical aids to offer greater and safer choices for people with a disability. This will be completed in the coming months.”
Steve Lyons tried some test legs again in 2010 but after some back and hip problems he found the skateboard better.(Supplied: Jade Douglas )
Mr Lyons said he wanted it “put in legislation so that in certain circumstances these vehicles are seen as mobility aids the same as an electric wheelchair”.
“Disability and inclusiveness is always tacked on at the end,” he said.
“By having the trials and not including accessible usages for the technology you are doing it again.”
Mr Lyons said he would love for Port Macquarie to adopt the e-trials and see what sort of ability and accessibility needs these vehicles could fill.
A spokesperson for Port Macquarie Hastings Council (PMHC) told the ABC in a statement that the PMHC does not plan to participate in the current e-scooter trial.
“While we are certainly interested in the idea of promoting more accessible transport options such as e-scooters in the community, we believe further work is required to improve safety and accessibility of infrastructure for the appropriate use of e-scooters across our region,” the PMHC spokesperson said.
Comancheros bikie boss Mark Buddle has been deported from Turkey and is in police custody in Australia.
Buddle is suspected of being involved in major drug shipments to Australia and is a person of interest in the 2010 murder of NSW security guard Gary Allibon.
SEE THE ARREST FOOTAGE IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ABOVE
Buddle left Australia in 2016 and has been living in various locations in the Middle East since then.
He is expected to face court on Wednesday.
Footage has emerged of Comanchero bikie boss Mark Buddle being frogmarched into a police station in handcuffs. Credit: Australian Federal Police/Australian Federal PoliceThe nation’s most wanted man was apprehended by Australian Federal Police over alleged drug importation after he touched down in Darwin on Tuesday morning. Credit: Australian Federal Police/Australian Federal Police
Buddle is suspected of having moved to Northern Cyprus to avoid extradition to Australia, where he faces questioning about his alleged involvement in drug and murder investigations.
Northern Cyprus is not officially recognized by any country other than Turkey and does not share an extradition treaty with Australia.
Buddle took over as head of the Comancheros in 2009 following the jailing of former boss, Mahmoud ‘Mick’ Hawi. Credit: Supplied
Buddle took over the leadership of the Comancheros in 2009 when former boss Mahmoud “Mick” Hawi was jailed over a fatal brawl at Sydney Airport.
Hawaii was later shot dead outside a gym in Sydney.
Buddle fled Australia in 2016 after being named a person of interest in the murder of a security guard and has evaded authorities ever since.
In 2010, 59-year-old Gary Allibon was shot in the back during the early-morning robbery of a cash-in-transit van on Sydney’s Sussex Street.
It is understood he had handed over a cash box and had his hands in the air when he was shot.
Buddle is believed to have been one of the focus points of police investigations — although no charges have been laid.
It is understood Buddle has spent the past several years in different countries with partner Melanie Ter Wisscha and their two children. Credit: Supplied
For several years, Buddle lived with long time partner Melanie Ter Wisscha and their two children in Dubai.
Last year, video surfaced of Buddle in an altercation with tourists at a Dubai pool.
Soon after, he left the country and the Sydney-born fugitive is believed to have traveled to Turkey, Greece and Iraq, before finally settling in Northern Cyprus.
In 2021, Cypriot newspaper Kibris Gercek reported Buddle had been granted residency by high-ranking politicians until August 6, 2022.
The reason for the residence permit was reported to be his “high income”.
A statement by the interior ministry said police had later determined Buddle’s presence was “inconvenient in terms of public peace and security”.
Just 2.6 gigalitres have been recovered to date through the fund.
Nationals leader David Littleproud was water minister in 2018 when he teamed up with the NSW and Victorian water ministers to strike the agreement, which they said would protect local communities by imposing strict criteria that banned buybacks if an assessment found the loss in irrigation water would have a negative economic impact.
Federal Water Minister Tanya Plibersek accused the former government of hiding the report and claimed it never wanted to deliver water recovery.
“The report shows that under current policy settings, there is virtually no way that the money can be spent in the remaining timeframe,” Plibersek said.
Nationals Water spokesperson Perin Davey rejected Plibersek’s claim, said the socio-economic test was included in the basin plan from the outset, and argued the 2018 rules merely made explicit the plan’s original intention.
“Look up chapter seven,” Davey said. “All the basin plan ministers did in 2018 was agree on the assessment criteria.
“It’s not the Nats’ fault, just ask [former Victorian Water Minister] Lisa Neville. She agreed to it.
“The socio-economic test has to stay, it’s the only thing giving communities certainty they won’t be sold down the river.”
The Wilderness Society urged Plibersek to commit to a “step change” in environmental protection and warned her not to strive for “incremental improvement on what a former government did”.
“The performance of previous governments is woefully inadequate as a benchmark for what we need now. We simply can’t let that historic neglect shape our vision of what is needed,” Tim Beshara, Wilderness Society policy and strategy manager, said.
Greens water spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said Plibersek must remove the socio-economic test and immediately re-start voluntary farmer buybacks.
loading
“My message to Minister Plibersek is: go and buy the water,” Hanson-Young said.
“Putting up the white flag is surrendering to big corporate irrigators. The minister has tools in her toolkit de ella to start returning large amounts of water to the system right now.
The 450 gigalitre water recovery plan is part of the $13 billion Murray Darling Basin Plan initiated by the Howard government in 2007, which was designed to recover the equivalent of 3200 gigalitres, following advice from CSIRO that urgent action was needed to address the over-allocation of irrigation entitlements.
More than 2100 gigalitres of water have been recovered under another 2750 gigalitre environmental target.
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter here.
Jeremey Gunning admits he is worried people will think the worst of him.
He sits on a chair in the center of Ballarat’s Trades Hall, surrounded by a display of photographs which share the most personal and darkest moments of his life with the world.
“I seem confident, but on the inside, I worry about the judgement,” he said.
The photograph display shows Mr Gunning, with wild hair and a long beard, his dog, a large stack of firewood and his car and a 1970s van parked in the bush near Creswick.
Next to those images taken during his 18 months living homeless are others from some of his proudest and happiest moments.
Jeremey Gunning is sharing his journey through photos in a Ballarat exhibition. (ABC News: Rochelle Kirkham)
He accepts a scholarship at a Federation University event in one image and smiles with a group of people he is now working with in his role as a peer support worker at Uniting Ballarat.
Mr Gunning receives a study scholarship at a Federation University event. (Supplied: Federation University)
Homelessness Week exhibition
Mr Gunning’s story is part of the Experiencing Homelessness exhibition open to the public this week.
It aims to break down the stigmas of homelessness and encourage community action.
Mr Gunning took this photo on his first day of homelessness in the bush near Creswick. (Supplied: Jeremey Gunning)
He said his photo selection highlighted his journey from the bush to a unit in Creswick and how support from Uniting’s Street 2 Home program got his life back on track.
“I thought it was important to show people the generosity that is required to help people out of homelessness. It works,” Mr Gunning said.
Mr Gunning’s experience of homelessness began three years ago when he was battling depression, experiencing deteriorating physical health and lost his job.
Mr Gunning wants to break down stigmas of homelessness to encourage more kindness. (ABC News: Rochelle Kirkham)
He had worked his whole life but said he gave up when his issues felt overwhelming.
He bought a rundown van for $400 and headed out to the bush near Creswick, then Mount Franklin and Slaty Creek, with his dog.
Mr Gunning lived in a 1970s van he bought for $400.(Supplied: Jeremey Gunning)
He had no income and didn’t sign up for Centrelink benefits until Uniting Street 2 Home workers found him camped out and offered practical help and ultimately, a home.
Collecting firewood became a daily job to fuel the large fire that heated his van and cooked his food.
The smell of smoke masked his body odour.
Mr Gunning’s fire was his only cooking source while he was living in the bush.(Supplied: Jeremey Gunning)
“So many of my photos are of my fire,” Mr Gunning said. “It was pretty cold out there.”
He said his disability made it harder to get firewood so he adapted as he went along.
“The fire was a big part of my journey,” he said.
Mr Gunning’s dog was his companion while he lived in the bush.(Supplied: Jeremey Gunning)
Mr Gunning was diagnosed with spinocerebellar ataxia, a degenerative condition which causes problems with balance, co-ordination, slurred speech, muscle stiffness and cramps.
Uniting’s support to move into a unit led to improvements in his physical and mental health, a new study venture in community services and a job as a peer support worker with the program that helped him.
Mr Gunning’s exhibition features pictures taken while he was living rough.(ABC News: Rochelle Kirkham)
“It has been a funny week for me,” Mr Gunning said while looking at his display of photos with his son.
“There has been a lot of reflection and a lot of memories that have come up.”
He said everyone’s journey into, through and out of homelessness was completely different. Yo
“It is emotional, it is ours, we own it,” he said.
“By me doing this, I hope I am challenging the stigma that is attached to homelessness. I need to tell my story because there is stigma, and it needs to go.
Community call to action
Juelz Sanders organized the Experiencing Homelessness exhibition.(ABC News: Rochelle Kirkham)
Street 2 Home case worker and homelessness exhibition coordinator Juelz Sanders said the exhibition was an “incredible opportunity” for the community to listen and understand.
She said the situation was dire and services needed community help because they could not meet demand on their own.
Uniting Ballarat has had to turn away 570 people who were seeking help at reception so far this year, because there were no appointments left to meet them.
Senior manager homelessness Adam Liversage said it was concerning and heartbreaking for staff.
“That unmet demand is increasing, and we are projecting that there will be 1200 people we aren’t going to get to [by the end of the year],” he said.
“This is the first time we are seeing such a demand on our services.”
Adam Liversage says the demand for services is unprecedented.(ABC News: Rochelle Kirkham)
There are currently almost 180 households waiting for housing and support on the over 25s priority list in Ballarat, including 84 families.
“We are seeing interest rate increases and the median rental prices increase to $419 in Ballarat,” Mr Liversage said.
“That is unaffordable on any Centrelink benefit and for those on the average incomes as well.”
People feel judged
The Ballarat Experiencing Homelessness exhibition shares many other heartbreaking stories of homelessness.
Beck, not their real name, spent three years living in her car with her two dogs after a family relationship breakdown and violence and trauma in the family home.
“I think one of the hardest things for me when I was homeless was the way people look at you,” she wrote in a display for the exhibition.
“The way they would stare, or point, or mutter things, or look at you with pity or disgust.
“Many people assume you’re a drug addict or I hear them say ‘something is wrong with her that she is homeless’, but they have no idea what’s happened or is happening in your life.”
Mr Gunning’s photos show how support helped him through homelessness. (ABC News: Rochelle Kirkham)
Uniting Ballarat is hosting a Take Action Day on Friday to encourage residents to sign up to volunteer and donate items like sleeping bags, non-perishable food and blankets.
Ms Sanders said her biggest wish was for people to be kind and understanding of people experiencing homelessness.
“It is an incredible opportunity for us to listen as a community and for the community to really understand,” she said.
A retired public servant has been sentenced to up to 16 years in jail for sexually exploiting children in the Philippines, with police saying his victims will never get back their “stolen childhoods”.
Key points:
Ian Schapel paid girls in the Philippines to perform sexual acts for him online
He was arrested after a routine search of his devices when he came back from overseas
His sentences on separate charges total 16 years
WARNING: This story contains content that readers may find upsetting.
Ian Ralph Schapel, 68, spent 13 years between 2007 and 2020 committing sexual offenses online, often while traveling in countries including America, Singapore and Vietnam.
He had pleaded guilty to 50 offences, including 41 counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child outside of Australia, using a carriage service to access child exploitation material and possessing child exploitation material.
On 74 occasions he engaged in sexual activity with at least 13 children in the Philippines over online platforms including Skype and WhatsApp.
The female victims were aged between three and nine.
Schapel also had more than 52,000 images and videos of child exploitation material in his possession.
Commonwealth prosecutor Krista Breckweg had told the court earlier that he would threaten facilitators or parents of his victims that if they did not meet his requests they would starve.
One of the victims is taken away by Filipino police after the facilitators were arrested.(Supplied: Australian Federal Police)
Australian Federal Police Detective Inspector Rodger Braun said five alleged abuse facilitators were arrested in the Philippines and 15 victims were rescued.
“We cannot give these children back their stolen childhoods, however we hope a conviction of this Adelaide man provides reassurance that the AFP and partner agencies will never stop our fight to bring predators to justice and protect children,” he said.
“Child sex offenders are not restricted by national or international borders, but neither are law enforcement agencies.
“We are united in our commitment to keep children safe.
“I’d also like to issue a warning to any individual who would seek to prey on children: the AFP and its partners will come for you no matter when the abuse occurred and no matter where you are in the world, there is nowhere for you to hide.”
‘Lonely man’ with mental health conditions
District Court Judge Paul Cuthbertson outlined payments for many of the sexual acts for sums of less than $40 on each occasion.
In sentencing, he took into account several factors, including his lonely life, being bullied at school and never being married or in long relationships with women.
There were also diagnoses of several mental health conditions, including schizoid personality disorder, hoarding disorder and adjustment disorder with depression.
But that did not lessen the seriousness of the charges, Judge Cuthbertson said.
“He must have known the consequences of his offending, the seriousness involved and he must have been aware that the financial position of those people would have driven parents and carers to proffer their children as a means to alleviate their economic plight,” he said.
Filipino police with one of the victims (in background) and one of the accused facilitators (foreground in pink).(Supplied: Australian Federal Police)
Material found during routine search
Schapel had flown back into Melbourne in February 2020 from an overseas trip when Australian Border Force officers conducted a routine search of his electronic devices and found child abuse material on his iPhone and iPads.
Released on bail, he went home to Adelaide, but was met at his home by officers from the SA Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team, who found numerous child abuse material inside the property.
A 17-year sentence for Commonwealth offenses was reduced due to his early guilty plea and assistance to authorities. He will now serve 15 years and three months, with a non-parole period of 10 years.
He received another nine-month sentence on state charges, bringing the total to 16 years.
The man accused of murdering an alleged home intruder near Katherine earlier this year, will likely plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter, a court has heard.
Key points:
Kim Kellett, 38, will likely plead guilty to a charge of manslaughter
Prosecutors have withdrawn the earlier murder charge
Mr Kellett is accused of shooting dead an alleged home intruder in March
Kim Kellett has been in prison sincely alleged shooting a 26-year-old man on his property at the Cutta Cutta Caves National Park in March.
The 38-year-old appeared in the Darwin Local Court on Wednesday via video link from the local correctional centre, dressed in a red prison-issued T-shirt which usually indicates the inmate is held under maximum security conditions.
Senior Crown Prosecutor, Marty Aust, told the court the original murder charge would be withdrawn and replaced with the lesser charge of manslaughter.
“The Crown will be relying on a reckless manslaughter charge,” he said.
“The facts that make out that charge have been reduced to writing and there is agreement between the parties as to the facts in full, for plea in the Supreme Court.”
A set of agreed facts was given to the judge, but not read in open court.
The court heard the man is likely to plead guilty. (ABC News: Hamish Harty)
Mr Kellett’s lawyer, Peter Maley, told the court his client would likely plead guilty when the matter reached the Supreme Court next month.
“It will be ultimately a plea of guilty to an amended count two, for recklessly causing the death,” he said.
Despite indicating a guilty plea, the charge Mr Kellett faces is too serious to be dealt with by the Local Court.
“I am satisfied the evidence is sufficient to put the defendant on his trial in respect of count two [manslaughter],” Judge John Neill said.
“I direct he be tried at the Supreme Court in Darwin.”
Manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Mr Kellett’s case will be mentioned in the Northern Territory Supreme Court on September 1.
Two property academics have warned that Australian renters could be forced out of their homes if more is not done to help improve housing affordability.
Rising interest rates and the climbing cost-of-living has the housing experts from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology concerned that without government intervention, more renters will end up homeless.
“The plight of renters looks set to worsen as the knock-on effects of rising interest rates filter through to renters and combine with cost-of-living pressures,” Senior Research Fellow Dr Megan Nethercote said.
The academics are worried renters will have to move out of their home. (Supplied / Domain)
“With almost half of renters on rental assistance already in rental stress, the risk of some renters falling into homelessness is real and high.”
She said rising costs would likely mean some renters would lose their homes as landlords sold the properties.
Research Fellow Dr. Louise Dorignon added that rent prices being increased could force others, particularly those in private rentals, out of their homes.
The experts have pushed for stronger national leadership on how rental properties are built and operated.
“Renters deserve homes that are affordable, provide adequate security of tenure, are well-maintained and have appropriate provisions for tenant representation,” Dr Nethercote said.
She said meeting the needs of renters warranted “serious deliberation within a new national housing agenda.”
Rent prices are set to increase as landlords pass on their rising costs. (9News)
Dr Nethercote said purpose-built rental accommodation could help the situation by increasing the number of rentals, while Dr Dorignon has suggested that rental properties need to be constructed better to help renters keep their costs down.
“It is also often the same households who lack the funds to thermally improve their homes to reduce their electricity and gas bills,” she said.
“Better designing and building homes so they are affordable, durable, and energy-efficient could help alleviating the risk of rental affordability stress in the future.”
“The apartment stock does not provide sufficient quality to meet the needs of current and future households.
“We need to transition to alternative and innovative modes of housing production, such as using less carbon-intensive materials, which would create more liveable apartment homes and in the long term, more affordable ones for households.”
Fire at idyllic holiday resort leaves more than 50 dead
The man charged over the death of German backpacker Simone Strobel on the NSW north coast is alleged to have suffocated her, but his lawyer has told a Sydney court the case against him isn’t supported by any evidence.
Key points:
Tobias Moran is facing a bail hearing at Sydney’s Downing Center Local Court
His barrister, Tim Game SC, says the police case is “non-existent”
Mr Game says allegations Ms Strobel was suffocated is “a theory”
Tobias Moran, 42, was arrested last week and extradited from Western Australia to Sydney, charged with murder and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
The body of kindergarten teacher Ms Strobel, 25, was found concealed under palm fronds in Lismore in February 2005, six days after she was reported missing.
Mr Moran applied for bail in Sydney’s Downing Center Local Court today.
“To describe the case as weak is to give it some credence,” his barrister Tim Game SC told the magistrate.
“The case is actually non-existent.”
In 2007, an inquiry found there was insufficient evidence to refer the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
“Nothing has changed… except for the way in which police are prepared to characterize this case and then do everything they can to keep him in custody,” Mr Game said.
Tobias Moran was extradited from Perth to NSW where he was charged with the 2005 murder of Simone Strobel in Lismore. (Supplied: NSW Police)
He said police had compiled a statement of alleged facts which included unsourced material and assertions which were not supported by any direct or indirect evidence.
That included that Ms Strobel’s cause of death was suffocation, which the barrister described as “a theory”.
Mr Game said two autopsies had not come to any conclusion about the cause of death.
He told Magistrate Margaret Quinn that Mr Moran had voluntarily provided DNA more than once in recent times, had known he was a suspect since 2007, and had a family in Perth which is “entirely dependent” on his income.
It was “outrageous” to suggest that relatives may somehow facilitate an escape from the country, Mr Game said.
Last week, NSW Police revealed they were speaking with German authorities about warrants for two other people.
Superintendent Scott Tanner said the two had been persons of interest from the beginning and were in the country at the same time as Ms Strobel.
He said Mr Moran relocated to WA some time ago and had settled into life “quite comfortably”.
The Lismore caravan park where Simone Strobel had been staying before her disappearance in 2005.
Ms Strobel’s family was “still very distressed”, police said, and had spent years wondering what happened to her.
Prosecutor Kim Gourlie described the matter as “a viable circumstantial case”.
He highlighted the findings of the inquest that Ms Strobel’s death was the result of “the action of one or more persons and it was not due to a natural cause or innocent event”, along with evidence from an autopsy of bruising.
“It’s the Crown’s submission that inferences are available in relation to her death not being from natural causes,” Mr Gourlie said.
Mr Gourlie said the accused had “lied” about “crucial events”, including the nature of their relationship and use of alcohol.
The court also heard that since 2007, additional statements have been obtained by police from people in Germany about the nature of the relationship between the accused and Ms Strobel.
Mr Gourlie said a “powerful incentive” for the accused to flee was the nature and seriousness of the charge, which would likely carry a substantial custodial sentence if he is convicted.
Mr Moran appeared via video link, wearing a face mask and blue plastic gown over his clothing.
