Friday 7 August 2009

Another home drug lab found

as posted here

Police have shut down yet another clandestine drug lab – this time in the southern suburb of Huntingdale.

Armed with a misuse of drugs search warrant, police raided a home on Redfox Crescent about 10am yesterday and allegedly discovered a crude laboratory where it appeared methamphetamine was being produced.

Officers from the Organised Crime Unit and WA Chemistry Centre experts were called out to the house to dismantle the equipment.

They found several items and chemical liquids commonly used to manufacture “ice” or “speed”.

Police arrested a 41-year-old woman on charges of attempting to manufacture a prohibited substance.

She will appear in the Armadale Magistrate’s Court today.

Nearly 80 clandestine drug labs have been discovered this year alone, a huge jump from the 28 busts last year.

Police have previously blamed the economic downturn for driving ice and speed users to “cook” their own drugs.

PERTH
LEE RONDGANGER


as posted here

Tuesday 4 August 2009

Cold case rapist jailed for 10 years

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A 28-year-old Perth man has been sentenced to 10 years' jail for raping a woman on two separate occasions in her own home.

Lawrence Henry Quartermaine was charged after police held a cold case review of the rapes, which happened in 2003.

Quartermaine broke into the woman's home in Maddington and sexually assaulted her while her eight-year-old daughter slept beside her.

He returned three weeks later and committed the same offences.

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

Today, District Court judge Richard Keen described the crimes as "every woman's worst nightmare", and said Quartermaine had shown no remorse or empathy for his victim.

He said Quartermaine had targeted the woman, who had been unable to escape from him because her daughter and her three other children would have been left alone in the house.

Quartermaine will have to serve eight years before he can be considered for release.


as posted here

Man critical after attack outside home

as posted here

A man is in a critical condition in hospital after being bashed in front of his home in the Perth suburb of Gosnells.

The attack happened early this morning.

A 33-year-old man had left a party he was hosting to try to break up a disturbance outside his Walter Street home when he was set upon.

He was punched and kicked, before collapsing and being taken to Royal Perth Hospital.

Police have questioned two men and a woman over the incident.

No charges have been laid at this stage.

as posted here

Three-car crash delays continue through Martin

as posted here

A crash involving three cars on Tonkin Highway is causing major delays for motorists this afternoon.
The crash occurred near the intersection of Gosnells Road West in Martin just before 3.30pm.

Heading out of the city, the Mitchell Freeway is busy north bound at Vincent Street and again from Warwick Road to Hepburn Avenue.

Travelling south on the Kwinana Freeway, traffic is slow from the city to Mill Point Road and towards Leach Highway.

The Northbridge Tunnel is flowing well in both directions.

Busy spots include Tonkin Highway at Kewdale Road in both directions, Hay Street and Thomas Street in West Perth and Wellington Street and Barrack Street in Perth.

From mid-morning tomorrow, Main Roads advises it will be trialling Variable Speed Zone (VSZ) on Beaufort Street, from Walcott Street to Lincoln Street, in an attempt to protect pedestrians.

With the VSZ, electronic sign would slow traffic from 60kmh to 40kmh from 7.30am to 10pm Sunday to Thursday and to 1am on Friday and Saturday.

PERTH

as posted here

Monday 3 August 2009

Councils have their sights set on taggers

as posted here

3rd August 2009, 6:00 WST

Taggers beware — Big Brother is watching you.

In response to soaring incidents of graffiti and a clean-up bill running into the millions, fed-up local councils are targeting the taggers with increasingly sophisticated measures.

The City of Joondalup was by far the worst hit with graffiti last year, spending $988,128 on its removal, almost double that in 2007. In response, 14 cameras were installed in April at a cost of $393,681.

The City of Stirling spent $750,000 to remove 15,152 incidents of graffiti last year. About $110,000 from the Office of Crime Prevention has been spent on initiatives such as CCTV, anti-graffiti marketing and removal.

In the City of Belmont, 15,295 incidents of graffiti were reported, up from 9955 the previous year, at a clean-up cost of $212,779. Mayor Glenys Godfrey said the State Government had funded a CCTV system which could film in extremely low light from more than 200m away. Other systems being tested responded directly to events as they occurred, with no need for operators.

“When an event is triggered, (the software) will notify our Neighbourhood Watch security guards by SMS, email the last few minutes of footage to our security control room, while also allowing police and security to log directly into the triggered camera,” she said.

Removing graffiti in the City of Perth cost $381,869, including two graffiti removal vans and free removal service. A third van was expected to be operational by next month. A permanent network of CCTV cameras cost the city about $1.2 million a year.

Rockingham mayor Barry Sammels said $350,000 would be spent on fighting graffiti in the city in the coming year. “Graffiti is an eyesore,” he said. “No matter what neighbourhood you live in, you should not have to tolerate this urban blight.”

In the City of Fremantle, ratepayers footed a $130,000 clean-up bill, up from $95,000. Chief executive Graeme Mackenzie said a $240,000 network of 11 CCTV cameras installed in 2007 was already paying dividends, with 535 incidents of antisocial behaviour recorded, leading to 124 on-the-spot arrests.

Graffiti clean-up cost the Town of Vincent $145,000, $673,948.00 in the City of Swan, $270,000 in the City of Cockburn and $326,838 — an increase of 16 per cent — in the City of Wanneroo, which plans to install a new CCTV network.

The City of Gosnells plans to spend $305,204 on fighting graffiti this year. Volunteers have also “adopted” 52 bus shelters in the past five months, scrubbing out tags almost as soon as they appear.

The only localities which reported a downturn in incidents, including the cities of Nedlands, Subiaco and Melville, were those which commissioned urban art projects and gave young taggers a chance to practise their skills.

About 170 reports a week were made to the Office of Crime Prevention’s “goodbye graffiti” hotline and website in the past year, but just five rewards were handed out to those leading to a conviction.

The State Government’s revamped Graffiti Taskforce held its first forum in June, with a program aimed to make juvenile offenders accountable for their actions due to be piloted this year.

FLIP PRIOR


as posted here

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...