In November last year, Alia and her 2-year-old daughter Emily showed up at a Newcastle support service after having fled a domestic violence situation. A Bangladeshi national on a student visa with no money, Alia was left with little options after having left the Australian father of her child. Alia feared being deported, as she’s ...

The Victorian Government has called for a Royal Commission into the underworld lawyer scandal that has jeopardised at least 22 convictions and possibly hundreds, potentially affecting some of the state’s most serious cases. Police fight to suppress information Victorian Police have fought for three years to keep the details of their operations and the identity ...

Next Monday, Jamie Blake and his partner Stephanie McKay are to stand trial in the Rockhampton Supreme Court over drug charges that could see them behind bars. The reason they’re facing prison is they were trying to help their autistic child. Callum is the 5-year-old son of the couple who live in the Queensland town of ...

Prosecutors in Minneapolis are seeking to upgrade the primary charge against a policeman who killed 40-year old Australian woman Justine Damond Ruszczyk. Officer Mohamed Noor was initially was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, after he shot dead former Sydney woman Damond Ruszczyk in an alley behind her Minneapolis home just before midnight on ...

The United States led the way in establishing the international system of drug prohibition last century. The intensification of drug law enforcement known as the war on drugs was launched by US president Richard Nixon in 1971. Even in India – a country where cannabis has long played an important role in the culture – the ...

By Sonia Hickey and Ugur Nedim A Sydney man is facing a maximum penalty of life imprisonment if convicted of sexually assaulting a child under the age of 10 years. 54-year old Kogarah resident Anthony Peter Sampieri is charged with 11 offences relating to the alleged sexual assault of a seven-year old girl in a ...

By Ugur Nedim and Sonia Hickey A Queensland woman has decided to launch a private criminal prosecution against her former partner after police refused to charge him over an incident where he allegedly brought a can of petrol into their home, doused her with petrol and held a lighter at her feet. ‘Dani’ (not her ...

In case you’ve missed any of them, here’s a rundown of the past week’s articles: Teacher Pleads Guilty to Persistent Sexual Abuse of Student The court heard the teacher exploited her teenage student’s ‘caring nature’, ‘stole his innocence’ and left him ‘ashamed and used’. Click here to read the article Sydney Man Sentenced to Death ...

At around noon on Thursday, a jury found renowned medicinal cannabis practitioner Dr Andrew Katelaris not guilty on a number of very serious charges relating to the supply and manufacture of cannabis medicines. Representing himself in court, Dr Katelaris argued a defence of medical necessity, meaning that his patients’ needs were so dire that it ...

The NSW government has given parking inspectors the power to issue demerit points for certain parking offences, in addition to the fines that apply to those offences. The move has led to fierce debate about whether council rangers should be able to wield such powers, and whether illegal parking should attract demerit points at all. ...