Appeal Court Finds GBH Sentence Inadequate, But Does Not Resentence
At 6.43 pm on 6 February 2015, Craig Lulham sent a text message to Bill, the husband of his friend Allison’s mother. It stated, “Bring the cops. I don’t care. It won’t stop me from smashing you are [sic] face...
The Massacres That Led to Tighter Gun Control in Australia
The National Firearms Agreement (NFA) established tighter firearm control laws back in 1996. This led Australian gun laws to become the envy many other countries. But over the following twenty years, these laws have slowly been eroded. And this has much...
Text Message Killer Sentenced
As previously reported, the case of an American woman who sent several text messages urging her boyfriend to commit suicide made legal history in the US, after she was found guilty of manslaughter. Michelle Carter now 20, was 17 when...
Government’s Ban on ‘Stop Smoking Aid’ Makes No Sense
Over three million Australians continue to partake in one of the most deadly habits around. Although smoking rates have fallen dramatically in recent decades, the last national survey found that 15.6 percent of the adult population are still lighting up. Two...
The Dangers of a Blanket Ban on Synthetic Drugs
“The global war on drugs has failed,” the Global Commission on Drug Policy declared on June 2 2011. The panel of world leaders and intellectuals outlined in its report that prohibition has led to increased drug consumption, fostered powerful crime networks...
‘View the Footage’, Says DPP Solicitor to the Judge
On 11 September 2014, David Mulligan was walking his dog along a street in Alexandria, when another man approached walking two boxer dogs. All of the canines were on a leash. As they got closer, the boxers lunged at Mr Mulligan’s...
The Dangers of Rewarding Crime Informants
A criminal defence lawyer has accused two key witnesses in a Melbourne murder trial of fabricating evidence against his client in order to get their slice of a $1 million reward. 31-year old Christopher Lavery is on trial for the...
The Attempted Genocide in Tasmania
The British began their takeover of the island now referred to as Tasmania in 1803. At that time, there were already nine Indigenous nations present on the land. Indeed, the Aboriginal people had been living there for tens of thousands of years....
Police DNA Bungle Clears Alleged Child Abusing Priest
Victorian Police have admitted a major bungle of DNA evidence that led to several key suspects being ruled out as suspects in the brutal 1980 murder of Melbourne mother Maria James. The murder investigation hinged on a bloodied pillowcase, which...
Death of Elijah Doughty: No Justice for Indigenous People
The verdict in the trial of the Kalgoorlie man who fatally ran over Elijah Doughty in August last year, has laid bare the inherent racism in the Australian criminal justice system. Last Friday, the 56-year-old non-Indigenous man - whose identity has...
