A young family, who went missing for two days while traveling from Queensland to New South Wales, was forced to drink water from a roadside puddle to survive and used a car mirror to get the attention of a search aircraft.
The harrowing details emerged on Tuesday night after Darian Aspinall, 27, her two kids Winter Bellamy, 2, and Koda Bellamy, 4, and their grandmother Leah Gooding, 50, were found safe and well on Tuesday, two days after they were last seen on Sunday.
The family were found near Tiboobura in NSW, and were being transported to hospital for assessment following an emotional reunion with Darian’s fiancé Linny Bellamy.
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Speaking with 7NEWS, Bellamy said his loved ones had to take drastic measures in order to survive in the outback of NSW.
That meant getting sustenance from a roadside puddle and making themselves visible to aircraft by using a car mirror
The family were reunited on Tuesday afternoon. Credit: 7NEWS
“I can’t believe they managed to stay as strong as they did… they looked after each other and just tried to ration everything out,” Linny said.
Darian’s fiancé Linny Bellamy told 7NEWS he was traveling behind the young family. Credit: 7NEWS
A visibly relieved Linny added that despite being “a bit tired”, his family seemed like their normal selves.
“My daughter said hello and told me she loved me… I haven’t spoken to my son yet, but I’ll speak to him soon,” he said.
The family were moving back to Adelaide, where they were originally from, after spending a year living in Queensland.
They embarked on the journey to Adelaide after leaving the Noccundra Hotel in southwest Queensland between 12.30pm and 3pm on Sunday and were heading to accommodation in the remote far northwest NSW township of Packsaddle along the way.
Linny told 7NEWS he was traveling behind the young family in a truck full of their belongings right before they went missing.
Linny says his family had taken a different route along the way, believing they could get through a road badly affected by the weather, despite advice against taking that road from hotel staff at the Tibooburra Hotel, near Packsaddle.
Darian Aspinall, 27. Credit: NSW Police
But when they failed to turn up at their destination, and Linny hadn’t heard from them, he contacted police.
“They’re my world… but I don’t know what I’d do without them,” he said.
In an update earlier on Tuesday, police said they had begun a major search across Tibooburra, Broken Hill, Wilcannia, Packsaddle and surrounds, with assistance from the Missing Persons Registry, and Queensland and South Australia Police.
But by Tuesday afternoon the missing quartet had been found.
“Following inquiries, a search and rescue helicopter located a vehicle off-track, about 50km southeast of Tibooburra, about 4.15pm on Tuesday,” NSW Police said in a statement.
A family of four have gone missing whilst traveling from Queensland to New South Wales, sparking an urgent appeal from police.
Darian Aspinall, 27, her two kids Winter Bellamy, 2, and Koda Bellamy, 4, as well as their grandmother Leah Gooding, 50, were reported missing on Sunday.
Police say the family left Noccundra Hotel in Queensland between 12.30pm and 3pm on Sunday and were heading to accommodation in Packsaddle, a remote township in Far West NSW.
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Their stop in Far West NSW was part of the family’s journey to Adelaide, police believe.
However, when the family failed to arrive at the destination and could not be contacted, they were reported missing to police, who have commenced an investigation into their whereabouts.
A family of four have gone missing whilst traveling from Queensland to New South Wales. Credit: NSW PoliceDarian Aspinall, 27. Credit: NSW Police
It’s understood they are traveling in a charcoal Hyundai Tucson with Queensland Registration 729CV2.
They are all described as being of Caucasian appearance. Darian has dark brown hair, tattoos on her right arm and wears glasses. The children have brown hair and blue eyes.
Anyone who may have information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Police are warning Australians to be vigilant after more than $2 million has been stolen from victims under a “Hi mum” text scam.
The scam involves the offender sending a text message from an unknown mobile number claiming to be their son or daughter.
The message will say they have lost their phone, telling the victim to delete their old number.
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Once the victim engages in conversation, the offender will make an excuse about how they are unable to make a payment before asking to borrow money or have a payment made on their behalf.
The offender will usually state it’s a matter of emergency before providing details for the payment.
NSW Police has provided an example of the messages, warning Aussie parents to “beware of this scam!!!!”.
“Hey mum it’s me. I got a new number, you can delete the old one,” the offender writes alongside a thumbs up and heart emoji.
“Which is it to me????” the victim responds.
“Your oldest and cutest child xx,” the offender writes, before continuing the conversation.
“I got a new phone. I’m still transferring everything. I have a little problem I can’t solve… Can you help me with it?
“Well because of the new device I have to transfer all apps, but the banking app has put a 48-hour security on the app due to fraud. All nice but I have to pay 2 payments. Very annoying because I can’t do anything about it. Could you possibly pay for me and I’ll return it as soon as possible???”
Social media users were quick to respond to the warning, admitting they too could fall for the scam.
“I’d fall for that… Not even gonna lie,” one person wrote.
“I’d know it wasn’t my kid by the way it’s written, but I can see how people can fall into this trap,” another wrote.
A third said they received a similar message, but challenged the sender.
“I received this. I replied back with ‘what is your middle name if this is truly my child?’ They never responded. Number blocked and reported,” they wrote.
Cybercrime Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent Matthew Craft said victims of the “Hi Mum” scam dated back to October last year, but they have seen a “significant increase in reports” since May.
Victims in NSW and Victoria account for just over half of all “Hi Mum” scam reports made to Australian law enforcement bodies, followed by Western Australia and Queensland.
“We encourage people to look out for suspicious behaviors demonstrated by these scammers; including their failure to personalize any communication and excuses as to why they can’t speak on the phone,” Det Supt Craft said.
“If you receive a suspicious message on your mobile, particularly through social media or encrypted messaging, reach out to your relative by an alternative method of communication or call to confirm it is in fact them.
“In just a matter of months, the losses accumulated by Australian victims of this scam easily exceed $2 million when you consider the significant underreporting by victims of cybercrime generally.”
Det Supt Craft said the demographic of victims is predominantly aged over 55.
“Sadly, many parents are falling victim because they’re simply nice people who are concerned for their child’s welfare,” he said.
He said people who have lost money to a scam should contact their bank or financial institution as soon as possible and report the matter to the police.
For more advice on how to avoid scams and what to do if you or someone you know is a victim of a scam, visit the Scamwatch website.
Over two weeks in a country New South Wales courtroom, police officers were moved to tears, made apologies, and admitted that their best had not been enough as they tried to explain how a 22-year-old man died while fleeing from them.
Images have been used with the permission of the family.
Family members watching the inquest into his death at times cried, shook their heads, and left the gallery when the evidence became too painful.
Gomeroi man Gordon Copeland drowned in the flood-swollen Gwydir River in Moree last July when he ran from police who had been following him and his two friends in a car.
Gordon Copeland with his son Gordon Junior.(Supplied: Aboriginal Legal Service)
The events of that day, and the evidence heard at the inquest, now have the police wondering how they will move forward with the local community.
“I don’t know how we mend our relationship,” the region’s police commander, Superintendent Steve Laksa, told the coroner.
“The tragedy of Gordon Copeland and the potential failures there by the police are tragic, but I don’t know what we do in terms of moving forward from here.”
Steve Laksa told the inquest he is not sure how to mend the relationship with the community.(ABC New England North West: Kathleen Ferguson)
‘Inhuman’ body cam evidence
Constable Nick Murray was on the scene early that July morning when he saw someone of “Aboriginal appearance” go down an “8-metre cliff” into the Gwydir River.
He had switched on his body cam, and the video from that night was played to the inquest.
While shining his torch through high grass, he can be heard saying, “F*** me they’re young aye, with clothes on too, I’m surprised he hasn’t f****** drowned.”
Mr Copeland had fallen into the river minutes earlier.
Gordon Copeland was last seen disappearing down a bend in the Gwydir River.(ABC New England North West: Kathleen Ferguson)
Constable Murray can be heard laughing, and said, “F*** this little c***.”
About nine minutes after Mr Copeland had entered the river, Constable Murray said, “I don’t know what do you wanna do, keep looking? F*** me.”
At the inquest, he was questioned about his level of concern.
“I was very concerned … we’re there trying my hardest to find the person, and I was very thoughtful in trying to make sure he’s fine,” Constable Murray said.
“What have you learned from this?” asked counsel assisting the coroner Peggy Dwyer.
“Act in a more professional way on body-worn video, I guess. What I said was a coping mechanism, I can’t control that it just blurts out,” Constable Murray said.
“My reactions and what I said was wrong, knowing what happened,” he said.
Mr Copeland’s cousin Lesley Fernando told the court this evidence was “utterly disgusting”.
“It’s inhuman, the actions on that video, that we will now live with forever,” she said.
“We will never unsee that or unhear it.”
Lesley Fernando says police gave her a post-it note with information to continue the search for her cousin.(ABC New England North West: Kemii Maguire)
That was not the last time police were at the river while Mr Copeland was still alive.
Those same officers were sent back to collect evidence an hour later, and what they found was a person in pain and struggling to stay afloat in floodwater.
Officers told the inquest they pleaded with the person to swim towards them.
He tried to swim to them, but the current was too strong, and they watched him drift off around the bend.
It was later agreed that person was Gordon Copeland. It was the last time he was seen alive.
A search kicked off shortly afterwards and lasted about eight hours, after information from detectives led to its termination.
Local police told the family two people were in the car on July 10, and they had been accounted for.
Detective Brad Beddoes got this information from the car’s owner, who was not there that night.
But a third person was in the car, and that person was Gordon Copeland.
Gordon Copeland died before his second son was born.(Supplied: Aboriginal Legal Service)
Detective Beddoes told the inquest he hadn’t spoken to officers on the ground that July morning, hadn’t watched their body-cam videos, and hadn’t spoken to the two other people in the car.
He said he “probably” drew that conclusion too early after being questioned about why he did not properly check his information.
“Clearly now it wasn’t good enough, but I’d done my best. I’m sorry for your loss,” he said while crying in the witness box.
Lesley Fernando told the court she pleaded with officers for any information to allow the family to keep looking after police called off a search for someone missing in the river — and said she was given a post-it note with directions to where the man was last seen.
“This was the resource they gave to look for our loved one,” she said.
Mr Copeland’s cousin Lesley Fernando (third from left) was supported by family when she gave evidence.(ABC New England North West: Kathleen Ferguson)
The family spent thousands of donated dollars on wetsuits, kayaks and go-pros, food and fuel for their own search, which did not end until Mr Copeland was found by police months later.
Josephine Brown, Ms Copeland’s partner, was heavily pregnant at the time of his disappearance, and was trudging up and down the river searching for the father of her sons.
Gordon Copeland’s partner Josephine Brown and their two sons attend the coronial inquest.(ABC New England North West: Lani Oataway)
Police maintain they never stopped looking.
It was not until NSW Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan wrote to them months later, encouraging another wide-scale search, that they would find Mr Copeland.
Mounted police, SES, divers, and helicopter and boat crews were brought in for the final search.(ABC New England North West: Lani Oataway)
He was discovered by police divers, less than 500 meters from where he was seen entering the river.
Superintendent Steve Laksa told the inquest this case had set back efforts to build relations between police and the local Aboriginal community.
Before Gordon Copeland disappeared, he said the district had run an operation which prevented a “significant” number of young Aboriginal people from going to jail. What that operation involved was not clear.
“We are not going to build that trust while ever we continue to put handcuffs on kids and lock them up,” he told the inquest.
Superintendent Laksa addressing the media when police widened the search for Mr Copeland in October 2021.(ABC New England: Kemii Maguire)
Superintendent Laksa also told the coroner most of the officers in Moree were straight from the Police Academy, with little experience.
He said he understood the importance of recognizing the region’s violent past, including massacres and Stolen Generation, and its lasting effects.
“I want to be able to walk down the street and be in Moree, I want my police to be able to be in the street and be in Moree, and I want us to have a positive relationship,” he said.
Gordon Copeland’s mother Narelle Copeland was supported by family on the last day of the inquest.(ABC New England North West: Kathleen Ferguson)
But even he was unsure how to begin that process.
“If there is any chance that we can connect with the family even if that is sitting down and listening to the stuff we don’t want to hear, I would take that opportunity straight away,” he said.
New South Wales Police believe the two Saudi sisters found rotting in their south-western Sydney apartment had died in a suspected suicide pact.
The bodies of Asra Abdallah Alsehli, 24, and her sister Amaal, 23, were found in separate bedrooms inside a Canterbury unit on June 7 after a concern for welfare report.
The grim discovery was made by officers from the Sheriff’s Department after the women failed to pay their rent and owed more than $5,000 to their landlord, NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal records showed.
Police had been baffled for several weeks about how the women died, who were found fully clothed, badly decomposed and no signs of forced entry into the unit.
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But the mystery appears to have been solved with interim toxicology reports showing traces of substances, which were found next to their bodies, detected in their systems, The Daily Telegraph reports.
“There’s no indication of anyone else being in the unit … no forced entry. It really does appear to be a tragic suicide,” a senior police source told the publication.
Further testing is being conducted by specialist pathology labs before an exact cause of death for the sisters can be determined.
It’s believed the bodies were laying in the Canterbury Rd unit for at least six weeks before the remains were discovered.
It was also reported a bottle of bleach, non-perishable foot items and clothing were some of the items found in the bedrooms.
The sisters, who arrived to Australia from Saudi Arabia as teenagers in 2017, largely kept to themselves and were “afraid of something” one friend claimed.
NSW Police released the images of the two women in a press conference last week as they launched a community appeal for anyone who had any information.
But despite the media coverage on the case, officers still know little about the sisters.
The outstanding rent is expected to be paid to the landlord through a black BMW, believed to be owned by the sisters, which was seized when the bodies were found.
Their family in Saudi Arabia have made no plans to fly the bodies home and have not arranged a burial in Australia.
The NSW Coroner can organize a state-funded burial if there were no substantial funds in the deceased person’s bank accounts.
The Canterbury apartment was listed for rent for $520 this week with a disturbing claimer included at the bottom of the advertisement.
“Disclaimer: This property has found two deceased persons on 06/07/2022, crime scene has been established and it is still under police investigation,” the description wrote.
“According to the police, this is not a random crime and will not be a potential risk for the community.”
A suicide pact is believed to be behind the death of two Saudi sisters inside a Sydney apartment, as their tragic end continues to be clouded by unknowns.
Police now believe Asra Abdallah Alsehli, 24, and her sister Amaal planned their deaths after bottles of chemicals and other substances were discovered beside their siblings’ bodies.
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Interim toxicology results showed traces of those substances in their bodies, The Daily Telegraph reports.
The sisters were found dead in separate beds at their Canterbury Road unit on June 7 in “unusual circumstances”, with no signs or injury or forced entry.
However, police believe the pair could have been dead for up to a month before their bodies were found.
Little remains known about Asra Abdullah Alsehli, 24, and her sister Amaal, 23. Credit: NSW Police
Their exact cause of death is yet to be determined as police wait for toxicology reports, but at this stage, suicide is believed to be a likely cause of death.
“There’s no indication of anyone else being in the unit … no forced entry. It really does appear to be a tragic suicide,” a senior police source told The Telegraph.
A bottle of bleach, non-perishable food items and clothing were reportedly among the items found in the bedrooms.
Despite several tragic twists coming to light, little remains known about the sisters.
Police have not revealed what the pair did for work, however, both women had registered ABNs, which could mean they were operating as sole traders.
Bank records showed funds were drying up, police told The Telegraph.
It has since been revealed the pair were behind in their rent payments for more than $5100, which equates to more than 10 weeks of missed rent for their $480 unit.
The sisters lived in this apartment building in Canterbury. Credit: domain.com.au
The outstanding amount owed to the landlord was revealed in NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal records.
Their landlord took the matter to NCAT, where it was ordered the tenancy agreement be terminated and possession given to the landlord, The Daily Mail reports.
However, the sisters never appeared at the May 13 hearing, which was held less than a month before their bodies were found.
A sheriff called at the behest of their landlord made the grisly discovery.
But it was not the first time authorities visited the unit, with police paying the sisters a visit in mid-March after the building manager raised concerns for their welfare as food had been left out in common areas.
This visit would have taken place not long after the pair stopped paying rent.
The sisters “appeared fine” when speaking to police, Detective Inspector Claudia Allcroft said earlier.
“At that stage, there were no issues raised,” she said.
“There was no further action required from police at that stage.”
The Canterbury unit is available to move in as of Wednesday, with the new listing including an eerie notice.
“This property has found two deceased person on 06/07/2022, crime scene has been established and it is still under police investigation,” the listing said.
“According to the police, this is not a random crime and will not be a potential risk for the community.”
Forensic finger print dust is seen on an external door frame at the alleged apartment where two women were found dead in Canterbury, Sydney, Wednesday, June 8, 2022. (AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi) NO ARCHIVING Credit: BIANCA DE MARCHI/AAPIMAGE
Those who knew the sisters say they seemed to live in fear and were “very afraid of something”.
The women had claimed a suspicious man had been lurking outside their unit in the months before their deaths and had voiced concerns someone was tampering with their food deliveries.
NSW Police said the investigation is ongoing.
“Police continue to appeal for information in relation to the death of the two women,” a spokesperson said.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Awkward moment sheriffs serve eviction notice to wrong house.
Awkward moment sheriffs serve eviction notice to wrong house.
While little remains known about Saudi-born sisters Asra and Amaal Alsehli, the pair were “scared of something”.
Their tragic deaths continue to be shrouded in mystery as more questions than answers remain.
But as bizarre twists begin to emerge, it is growing clearer the two young women were worried.
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If someone knocked on the door of their Canterbury unit in Sydney’s inner west, the sisters were reportedly reluctant to answer, instead staying “tucked in the corner like two little sparrows”, according to one person who tried to help.
From their nervousness about visitors to a tradesman’s “uneasy” feeling while working in the unit, there were signs something was wrong.
Here are eight of the strangest twists in the case so far.
Crucifixes found inside
Two crucifixes were found inside the Sydney unit after the sisters’ bodies were removed, a worker with access to the apartment claims.
The worker said the religious symbols were discovered on the floor of one of the bedrooms, the ABC reports.
7NEWS.com.au was unable to independently verify the claim, with NSW Police unable to comment.
It has also been reported the pair renounced Islam and changed their names after arriving in Australia.
It is not clear whether the crosses were a sign the pair had converted to Christianity or if they belonged to the women at all.
Younger sister Amaal Abdullah Alsehli. Credit: NSW Police
Their car had been keyed
Those who knew the sisters say they seemed to live in fear and were “very afraid of something”.
Apartment building manager Michael Baird, of Transparent FM, said his first interaction with the women was when their car was keyed earlier this year.
“We believed that it was not a personal attack on them because they’d parked their car in an unusual position. And somebody’s obviously taken offense to it,” Baird told the ABC.
He said he was aware the sisters were concerned about their safety.
“I think the girls were very, very scared,” Baird said.
“And we’re not sure whether it was something or someone, they didn’t tell us.”
Older sister Asra Abdullah Alsehli. Credit: NSW Police
a strange man
The women had claimed a suspicious man had been lurking outside their unit in the months before their deaths.
“They made a report that they saw a man ‘acting weird’ outside the building – standing between two cars and acting strange,” an employee from the building management company told The Daily Mail.
“We checked the CCTV and saw there was a man there.
“But that spot is busy. There is a burger shop there and Uber Eats drivers coming and going all the time. He could have been anyone.
“We couldn’t determine why he was there, but he didn’t look like he was doing anything untoward, so there was no need to chase it up further.”
The sisters also had concerns someone was tampering with their food deliveries and contacted building management in January, but surveillance cameras again found no evidence.
The plumber’s bad vibe
The eerie reports continue, with a plumber who attended the apartment also raising concerns about the sisters.
“When (he) came out of that unit, he said that he was concerned that there was something untoward happening in the apartment. He got a very bad vibe,” Baird told the ABC.
“He was pretty shaken up. He said, ‘I’m never coming back to that apartment again’.”
Baird asked the local site manager to reach out to police, adding that he understood the women subsequently told officers they were fine.
“The girls did not want to open the door; they did not want to participate in any sort of conversation,” another worker told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“The cops said, ‘We’re worried. Can we help you?’ They said no.
“I took one look at those girls, and thought, ‘You are hiding something.’ These girls were very secretive. They kept a very low profile.”
A police van is seen near an apartment block where two women were found dead in Canterbury, Sydney, Wednesday, June 8, 2022. (AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi) NO ARCHIVING Credit: BIANCA DE MARCHI/AAPIMAGE
A mysteriously dropped AVO
The eldest sister Asra had applied for an apprehended violence order against a man in 2019, but it was withdrawn and dismissed.
The man at the center of the AVO told The Daily Telegraph he had a “small fight” with the sister, which caused her to be fearful and contact police to take out an AVO.
“We went to court, the three of us and I told the judge what happened. Amaal explained it was just an argument and Asra was frightened but there was no problem anymore,” he said.
He said he was not romantically involved with Asra and had not been in contact with the sisters for about two years, and was “shocked” to hear of their mysterious deaths.
Family’s photointervention
At a press conference last week, Burwood detective inspector Claudia Allcroft said police were in contact with the women’s family, who was cooperating with authorities.
She said there was “nothing to suggest” the family were suspects, nor that the women had fled Saudi Arabia.
But it has since been revealed the sisters were asylum seekers who each had an active claim for ongoing asylum with the Department of Home Affairs and had engaged with settlement service providers in Sydney.
In another bizarre twist, the sisters’ family did not want police releasing images as part of their appeal for information.
Police contacted relatives in Saudi Arabia asking for permission to release images of the sisters, but they refused, according to The Telegraph.
However, a coroner investigating the deaths overruled the decision.
Forensic finger print dust is seen on an external door frame at the alleged apartment where two women were found dead in Canterbury, Sydney, Wednesday, June 8, 2022. (AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi) NO ARCHIVING Credit: BIANCA DE MARCHI/AAPIMAGE
Shrouded in secrets
When the sisters arrived in Australia in 2017, they lived in Sydney’s western suburbs for about 18 months while they attended the local TAFE.
Rita was their neighbor and shared an insight into the sisters.
“(Amaal and Asra) were just really good people. They did nothing harmful,” Rita told the ABC.
“They moved to this house because it was like closer to their TAFE. And they usually stayed up all night and only slept in the morning.”
A man who had developed a friendship with Asra conceded he knew very little about the woman he “met on the street” in 2019, despite them hanging out together.
“She told me nothing about her life like that… I did not go to her home, I meet her out, you know, not in the house,” the man told The Telegraph.
By 2020, the sisters decided to move out and relocated to their Canterbury apartment.
The sisters lived in this apartment building in Canterbury. Credit: domain.com.au
The neighbors at the sisters’ Canterbury address also knew very little about the pair, telling 7NEWS they kept to themselves.
One neighbor said they “feel a bit scared” not knowing what happened to the pair so close to their own home, despite not knowing the women well.
“Every time when I walk past here, it’s always on, it’ll always be on my head,” another said
Police said the pair lived a quiet life since arriving in the country and did not have many known connections in Sydney.
The women do not appear to have been a part of any Saudi dissident networks and had almost no online presence or public photographs.
They stopped paying rent
As the tragic tale deepens, it has also been reported an eviction notice was filed weeks before the sisters’ bodies were discovered in June.
Rental agent Jay Hu said the women had been good tenants since they began the lease two years ago, but something changed earlier this year.
“They stopped paying rent, so my colleague contacted them… they said the money would be coming soon,” Hu told The Telegraph.
“But it still didn’t come… a few more weeks went by and still not paid.”
Hu said the sisters were given a notice to vacate the unit around May.
Burwood detectives have established Strike Force Woolbird to investigate the women’s deaths.
“As the investigation is ongoing, police continue to appeal for information in relation to the death of the two women,” NSW Police told 7NEWS.com.au on Tuesday.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
A detective has been found dead inside a police station in Sydney’s north-west.
The 46-year-old detective sergeant was on duty when he was found dead by colleagues inside a room at Ermington Police Station about 12:30pm on Monday.
NSW Police revealed initial inquiries suggest there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.
The Daily Telegraph has reported the man died after a “shooting incident” and early investigations suggest the officer was shot with a police-issued firearm.
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Detectives have launched a critical incident investigation into the man’s death.
“The 46-year-old detective sergeant from a specialist command was on-duty at the time and initial inquiries suggest there are no suspicious circumstances,” a statement from NSW Police read.
“A critical incident investigation has been launched by detectives from the South West Metropolitan Region, who will prepare a report for the Coroner.
“The investigation will also be reviewed by the Professional Standards Command and independently oversighted by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC).”
Support services have been made available to the man’s colleagues, the officers who found him and those who were in the station at the time.
The death comes less than two years after another police officer took his own life at the Sydney Police Center in Surry Hills.
The teen who stabbed a 15-year-old girl to death as she walked home from school on the NSW Central Coast has walked free nearly 17 years after her murder.
Tania Burgess was stabbed 48 times after she hopped off a school bus and walked through the car park of Forresters Beach Resort on July 19, 2005.
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Now Tania’s family are calling for the identity of their daughter’s killer to be revealed to the public.
The convicted murderer, known to the public only as “DL”, has been in custody since he was 16, and because the offense occurred when he was a minor he cannot be named for legal reasons.
With the killer now aged 32, Tania’s parents believe the suppression of her killer’s name should be lifted in the interest of “public safety”.
Tania’s parents Mandy and Chris Burgess told Sunrise last month they felt frustrated that her killer was to get a second chance at life.
“I felt anger and helplessness because it’s really like riding as a backseat passenger in a car for the last 17 years,” Mandy said.
Tania Burgess was stabbed 48 times after she hopped off a school bus in 2005. Credit: 7NEWSThe convicted murderer, known only as ‘DL’, has been in custody since he was 16. Credit: 7NEWS
“We had this most beautiful 15-year-old daughter, and she was taken away from us and now he gets to have his life back.
“He gets to have a second chance at life, and we can’t do that for Tania.
“She’s not going to get a second chance at life.”
The devastated parents admit they felt “a lot of anger” when seeing their daughter’s killer again in court.
“I was just such a hard thing to do, to see his face again,” Mandy said.
Mandy and Chris have also met with a handful of ministers to discuss the suppression order.
“They’re all very much all about releasing the name because it gives accountability for their crimes,” Chris said.
“And it’s not like they stole a car, they did something significantly more serious, so they should be accountable for their crimes, not just able to hide behind anonymity. “
Tania’s family are calling for an end to the suppression of her murderer’s identity. Credit: 7NEWS
DL was convicted back in 2005 by a jury and was jailed for at least 17 years, with a maximum term of 22 years.
This was reduced on appeal by four years in 2018, meaning he has been eligible for parole since mid-2018.
During a hearing, Justice James Wood accepted the expert advice from the Serious Offenders Review Council that strongly advised DL should be released with supervision before his full-time sentence expired.
“The priority is now supervision to foster his reintegration and the protection of the public,” the council report stated.
DL must provide authorities daily notifications of all his movements and undergo treatment by a forensic psychologist, along with other strict conditions.
