Criminal Lawyer’s Prison Sentence Confirmed on Appeal
Criminal defence lawyer Stephen Stubbs has lost his appeal for fraud convictions and will spend time in prison. The offences An ACT Supreme Court jury found 64-year old Stubbs guilty last year of 14 counts of dishonestly obtaining property by...
CBA Senior Financial Planner Avoids Prison for Fraud
“It was not a momentary lapse of judgment. It involved 18 clients and it breached his employer’s trust and the clients’ trust”, Queensland magistrate Cathy McLennan remarked when sentencing former CBA senior financial planner Ricky Gillespie for fraud. “It really...
Asylum Seekers Need Help: An Interview With RACS Solicitor Ben Lumsdaine
Australian immigration minister Peter Dutton announced in late May that 7,500 asylum seekers were being given until October 1 to lodge their protection visa applications, or they’d face deportation. He stated that the “game was up” for “fake refugees.” However, what...
Medicinal Cannabis Doctor Is Being Held Behind Bars on Remand
The benefits of medicinal cannabis have been widely recognised over recent years. Cannabis medicines have been used to ease the pain associated with chemotherapy, to treat the symptoms of Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis, as well as to reduce seizures in cases of...
Protecting Civil Liberties: An Interview With NSWCCL President Stephen Blanks
At the October 5 Council of Australian Governments meeting, state and territory leaders agreed that a new federal law should be established that would allow terror suspects to be detained for up to 14 days without any charges being brought against...
Criminal Lawyers Criticise New Guilty Plea Rules
The NSW government is introducing strict rules relating to guilty pleas which it says will increase the likelihood of defendants pleading guilty to criminal offences. The changes, which are expected to come into effect in April 2018, are aimed at...
Semi-Automatic Weapons: Another Step in the Militarisation of NSW Police
As of last Monday, Sydneysiders will have to get used to seeing NSW police officers on city streets carrying military-style assault rifles. The move is just the latest counter terrorism and organised crime measure that’s leading to the ever-increasing militarisation of...
Daily Telegraph Misrepresents Head Crown Prosecutor’s Comments
On 14 December 2017, the Daily Telegraph published a news article by crime editor Mark Morri and Janet Fife-Yeomans which claimed Senior Crown Prosecutor Mark Tedeschi QC issued a “blunt warning to colleagues to get tough on criminals”. According to...
Unaccompanied L-Plater Charged with Driving Under the Influence
A learner-driver is facing multiple charges including driving under the influence and unaccompanied after being pulled over by police on the Northern Rivers. The story so far Police signalled 23-year old Mr Squires to pull over after allegedly seeing him...
Needle Exchanges Are Desperately Needed in Australian Prisons
It’s well-known that illicit substance use occurs right across the Australian prison system. A 2010 Corrective Services NSW report found that just over a third of inmates reported using an illegal drug at least once during their current stint behind bars....
