Wednesday 10 June 2009

Man charged over shopping centre assault

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An 81-year-old Perth woman has spoken of her shock at being assaulted in a shopping centre car park by a man who accused her of scratching his car.

The woman, who wants to be known as Betty, says she was in Maddington on Saturday morning helping her daughter unload shopping from a trolley when she heard a man shouting at her.

She says the man told her the trolley had hit his car.

"Without any other words, just turned and put his fist up and let me have it in the chest," she said.

"I must have fallen on my elbow mostly because that's a bruise and you know I've taken skin off and also my ankle's got skin off.

"And he's still ranting at me even though he's standing over the top of me."

A 40 year old Gosnells man has been charged with Assault Occasioning Bodily Harm and is due to appear in court on Friday.


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DPP appeals Baby Grace Moorby death driver sentence


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JAIL terms for drivers who kill may be low because of a "pattern of inappropriate sentences", a WA judge said today.

At an appeal hearing over the sentence given to drunk driver Benjamin Alan Butler, who killed 11-month-old girl Grace Moorby, Justice Christine Wheeler said the lowest jail sentence in similar cases might be too low.

The Director of Public Prosecutions Robert Cock has appealed the 44-month jail term handed to Butler, 25, last November after he pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.

Butler had a blood alcohol level more than three times the legal limit when the Holden Monaro he was driving smashed into the Moorbys' Thornlie house about 1pm on April 18 last year.

Butler attempted to pass two cars on Berehaven Ave at high speed but clipped one and crashed into the house, striking Mrs Moorby and baby Grace as she was being wheeled in a pram outside.

Grace, who was found under bricks, died at the scene. Police recorded a blood alcohol level for Butler of 0.166.

District Court judge Richard Keen sentenced him to two years 10 months jail for causing Grace's death and an extra 10 months for the injuries to Mrs Moorby.

Today, the court heard jail terms for dangerous driving causing death ranged from two to nearly seven years.

Justice Wheeler, who was one of the three sitting appeal judges, said the range might be low as a ``result of a pattern of inappropriate sentences over a period of time’’.

But she said Butler’s crimes would have been considered worse if he had driven and killed Grace on the night of his extensive drinking and not the day later.

DPP prosecutor Ken Bates today argued that the sentence was manifestly inadequate because while Judge Keen said the crimes were at the higher end of the scale, the sentence was at the lower end.

Butler’s lawyer John Prior said the term should stand as the judge took into account the time in jail was in line with the sentencing range and his client’s youth, his previous good character and remorse.

``There was genuine remorse, real remorse, separate from his plea of guilty,’’ Mr Prior said.

The judges reserved their decision on the appeal.


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Govt defends dumping solar rebate

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Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett has defended his decision to pull the Government's $8,000 solar panel rebate.

The Government surprised retailers and customers yesterday by announcing the rebate would end at midnight last night, three weeks earlier than expected.

Some retailers extended their opening hours last night to allow customers time to get the necessary paperwork through.

Mr Garrett says the industry was given plenty of warning that the rebate system would end.

"The industry has known not only from the time that there would be a transition to solar credits," he said.

"But also since that period of time that the Government would want to see a transition to solar credits and that the rebate was running at levels which were very, very clearly providing a significant amount of work for the industry which it still hadn't undertaken."

Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt says the Coalition has been supportive of moves to change the incentive scheme for renewable energy products.

But he says the surprise move to dump the solar panel rebate makes it hard to have confidence in the Government's plans.

"We are very sympathetic to the goal of a stronger renewable energy target," he said.

"We'd like to see the legislation, we want to be constructive.

"We do, of course, have concerns that Mr Garrettt, overnight, has broken the COAG announcement, broken their Budget promise and thrown the solar sector into chaos."

Greens Senator Christine Milne has criticised the Government for dumping the rebate scheme before changes to its renewable energy incentive scheme are approved.

"We certainly support a renewable energy target but we'd like to see one much higher than the Government is aiming for," she said.

"So, it's arrogant in the extreme for the Government to go ahead, change the system overnight before it has even been debated in the Senate where changes may well be made."

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Man charged after woman, 81, attacked in carpark

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POLICE have charged a man after an assault on an elderly woman in the carpark of a Maddington shopping centre on Saturday.

Gosnells police were conducting routine foot patrols of the shopping centre about 11.30am when a member of the public told them an assault had just taken place in the carpark.

When officers arrived at the scene they saw a number of people shouting at a man being taken away by security staff, and an elderly woman lying on the ground receiving first aid from members of the public.

It will be alleged the man assaulted the 81-year-old woman after her shopping trolley touched the front of his vehicle.

After being struck by the man, it is believed the woman fell backwards to the ground and sustained lacerations.

She appeared to be in shock and was having difficulty breathing, and was taken to Armadale Hospital by St John Ambulance for treatment to her injuries.

The offender was removed from the immediate vicinity for his own protection.

A 40-year -ld man from Gosnells has been charged with assault occasioning bodily harm and will appear in the Armadale Magistrates Court on Friday.


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Man admits raping woman on two separate occasions

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A man has pleaded guilty in court to sexually assaulting a woman in Perth on two separate occasions.

In the District Court in Perth Lawrence Henry Quartermaine admitted six charges including sexual penetration without consent and aggravated burglary.

He broke into the woman's home in Maddington in March 2003 and raped her. He repeated the offence three weeks later.

Quartermaine originally pleaded not guilty to the offences but changed his pleas today after his victim testified in court yesterday.

He is due to be sentenced in August.

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Man charged with sex assault

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A 54-year-old Gosnells man has been charged with sexually assaulting a 39-year-old man.

Police allege Garry Michael Narkle committed the assaults in January this year in the Perth suburb of Queens Park.

He has been charged with three counts of sexual penetration without consent and two of indecent assault.

He is due to appear in court tomorrow.


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Narkle charged over sex attack

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9th June 2009, 15:45 WST

Garry Michael Narkle has been charged with sexually assaulting a 39-year-old man after an attack earlier this year.

Sex Crime Division officers have charged Narkle, 54, of Gosnells, in relation to an alleged attack at a Queens Park home on January 24.

Narkle was arrested today and charged with three counts of sexual penetration without consent and two counts of indecent assault.

He is due to appear in Perth Magistrate’s Court tomorrow.

PERTH
STAFF REPORTERS

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Monday 8 June 2009

Submariners recall close encounters of Soviet kind

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HMAS Ovens powered slowly through the frigid depths of the Tasman Sea, the crew of the 90mlong Oberon-class submarine manning their posts in silence.

Their enemy, a Soviet submarine sent to spy on the Australian coastline, lurked somewhere nearby.

It was 1971, the height of the Cold War, and the Ovens was busy playing its part in the cloak-and-dagger battle for intelligence supremacy raging between the US and the Soviet Union.

Gosnells resident Fred Lawrence, 64, who was the petty officer in charge of sonar on the Ovens at the time, said their mission had been to stay undetected and keep track of the enemy sub’s movements.

“We caught up with her somewhere down near Tasmania,” he said. “It was an old Russian submarine. She’d come down out of the Pacific, right down our east coast and came as far west as Albany before she turned around and went back.”

Yesterday, Mr Lawrence and nine other original members of the Ovens’ 60-strong crew gathered at the WA Maritime Museum, where the submarine now rests on display, to commemorate 40 years since the vessel was launched.

But despite the passage of time, the old sailors remained reluctant to give away too much detail about the missions they ran during the Cold War, much of which has never been officially acknowledged by the Australian Government.

Mt Hawthorn resident Lloyd Blake, who was a petty officer on the Ovens, said most Australians were oblivious to the secret contribution Australian Cold War submariners had made beneath the waves.

Mr Blake said that during the 60s, Australian sailors training on British submarines had been involved in secret sea battles with Russian vessels on “mystery tours” in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans.

By 1969, Australian Oberon-class subs, such as the Ovens, were leading the espionage war against the Soviets in the southern hemisphere.

Crews would leave port in Australia with no knowledge of their mission and remain submerged for up to six weeks.

“Spooks and language specialists” were passengers, Mr Blake said. “We were able to get within 5m of a big (enemy) ship, photograph her and record her sound signature and slip away totally undetected,” he said.
JOSEPH CATANZARO

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Thursday 4 June 2009

Skimmers caught on video

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Police are looking for two men caught on camera using a fake bank card to withdraw money from Perth automatic teller machines.

Police say the men were withdrawing money from a Victorian woman's account.

It is believed her card details and personal identification number [PIN] were obtained using a skimming device.

They took the money from ATMs in Willeton, Malaga and Maddington during February.

Detective Rulan Carr from the Major Fraud Squad says police are trying to establish whether there are links to a number of skimming devices found on Perth ATMs in recent months.

"This is not obviously a solely operated incident and obviously the indication is that there's more than one person or maybe people involved," he said.

Police have also released a picture of a man seen removing a skimming device from an ATM in the northern Perth suburb of Carine on April 13.


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Compass sells Gosnells markets for $6m

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Compass Hotel Group has sold the Gosnells Railway Markets for nearly $6 million, with funds to be used to retire debt and working capital.

The company said it sold the markets, a non-core asset, for $5.675 million, which reflected a 13.5 per cent premium to valuation and an 18.3 per cent discount to the book value.

Details of the buyer was not provided and comment was being sought from Compass at time of publishing.

Compass said it will use funds generated from the sale to retire debt and, subject to St George Bank approval, inject working capital into the group.

"Compass continues to look at various options to strengthen the Company's balance
sheet including the divestment of non core assets," it said.

The company had purchased the markets as part of a package deal that included the adjacent Gosnells Hotel.
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WA’s lucky Lotto run continues

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4th June 2009, 10:15 WST

WA has continued its amazing lucky Lotto streak with a $1 million winning ticket from last night’s draw sold in Perth’s eastern suburbs.
Last night’s entire Lotto Division One amount was scooped by one winning ticket, sold at Summerfield News & Lotto in Girrawheen.

It is the third win for West Australian punters this week, with a Gosnells man winning $1.5 million on Monday and a Morley syndicate claiming a $1.4 million prize.

Persistence paid off for the middle-aged Gosnells man, who was one of only two winners nationally in the draw, who described himself as a regular Lotto player.

When asked what his plans were for spending his new found fortune, the man was looking forward to sharing the money with his children, who were not yet aware of the news.

“I want to use the money to focus on the kids and put some away for a rainy day,” he said.

A group of regular customers made up the Morley syndicate run by Lucky Charm Express that won $1.4 million in the Saturday Lotto draw.

It was the fifth Division One ticket sold at the outlet since 2004.

Meanwhile, three Division One winners have fronted the Lotterywest head office to claim prizes collectively worth more than $3.4 million.

Two of the winners claimed their new fortunes from the Saturday and Monday Lotto draws, while a Division One prize from the Saturday Lotto draw on May 23 has finally found its rightful owner.

A Perth man in his 50s was the first of three winners, claiming a $514,000 prize.

The man told Lotterywest he would be quietly keeping the news to himself and has plans to use his winnings to help others.

“I want to be a philanthropist and I want to help young people who can’t help themselves,” he said.

The winning ticket was purchased at Coolbellup Newsagency in Perth’s southern suburbs.

Two other WA Division One winning tickets in the draw, purchased at Shepherds News in Fremantle and Riverton Newsagency, are yet to be claimed.

PERTH
JAYNE RICKARD
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Lotto winnings rain down on WA

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June 04, 2009 10:30am
WA has scored a rare Lotto hat-trick following a third division one win during the past week.

A ticket bought at Summerfield News & Lotto in Girrawheen has taken out the entire $1 million division one prize in last night's draw.

WA punters also scored division one wins in Saturday and Monday night Lotto draws.

A syndicate run by Lucky Charm Express in Morley won almost $1.4 million in the Saturday Lotto draw.

A middle-aged Gosnells man has claimed a $1.5 million prize from this week's Monday Lotto draw.

The man, a regular Lotto player , has told told Lotterywest he intends to share his winnings with his children.

"I want to use the money to focus on the kids and put some away for a rainy day," he said.

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Neighbouring suburbs dominate property listings

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Chalpat Sonti
June 4, 2009 - 7:01AM
Looking to buy a house? You're most likely to be in luck in the south eastern part of Perth, new figures show.

An analysis by RP Data has found almost one in ten of all houses in the neighbouring suburbs of Thornlie, Canning Vale and Gosnells were listed for sale in the state in the past year.

With 463, 461 and 350 properties listed respectively, the south eastern suburbs headed the rankings for WA, ahead of Port Kennedy and Ballajura (both 332).

With the rise in listings came a fall in prices, with all three south eastern suburbs recording drops in the median price of between 5 and 6 per cent. All bar Canning Vale of the top five suburbs had average prices below that of Perth as a whole.

It was a different story as far as units went, with Scarborough leading the way.

Of the 1390 units in the seaside suburb, 304, or 22 per cent, were listed for sale. Unit prices fell 6.8 per cent over the year.

A similar percentage of units were up for sale in Como, with 263 listed. Prices held up better in the south Perth locale, down just 0.6 per cent.

Maylands, where 218 units were listed, was next, ahead of South Perth with 179 and Rockingham (131, or 26 per cent of all units). Prices plunged 8.8 per cent in Maylands and 7.5 per cent in Rockingham, but South Perth reversed the trend with the average increasing 2.5 per cent.

RP Data senior research analyst Cameron Kusher said low consumer demand led to a build up in the number of properties for sale.

Top five suburbs - houses

Suburb, average price, 12-month growth, total listings, total dwellings

Thornlie, $362,250, -5.3 per cent, 463, 5177

Canning Vale, $493,000, -5.2 per cent, 461, 3965

Gosnells, $310,500, -5.9 per cent, 350, 3913

Port Kennedy, $370,000, -3.9 per cent, 332, 2563

Ballajura, $395,000, -3.4 per cent, 332, 4330

Top five suburbs - units

Suburb, average price, 12-month growth, total listings, total dwellings

Scarborough, $400,000, -6.8 per cent, 304, 1390

Como, $432,500, -0.6 per cent, 263, 1172

Maylands, $290,000, -8.8 per cent, 218, 2174

South Perth, $495,000, 2.5 per cent, 179, 1602

Rockingham, $245,000, -7.5 per cent, 131, 504




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Day one ..

the following reply was given ...

Thankyou for your enquiry. Council meetings are conducted under the provisions of the City of Gosnells Standing Orders Local Law 2003, a co...