The Dapto predator who stalked two teenage girls before raping them at a Wollongong beach has been sentenced to nine years behind bars. Wayne Anthony Cassell learnt his fate in Wollongong District Court on Wednesday after previously pleading guilty to 11 charges including eight counts of sexual intercourse with a child aged 14 to 16, two counts of stalk or ...

Police have arrested two men following a siege, during which a main street in Melbourne’s southeast was shut down for hours The two men refused to come out of a property in Mornington after police attempted to arrest them at around 10am following an alleged home invasion and serious assault overnight, police said. Police believe one of the men took ...

The former crown prosecutor who ran the highly publicised inquiry into ice has renewed his call for a probe into drug use in NSW jails — more than two years after his “urgent” plea was ignored. “I had no idea how bad the problem was in the jail until I ran this inquiry,” Professor Dan Howard SC said. “I came ...

A young man who was “lucky” not to kill five friends in what would have been the city’s second horror crash in as many weeks has been granted bail, after a magistrate disputed police claims he had been drinking at the wheel. Jordan Tye Maaka, 18, lost control of his Honda Accord while coming around a bend on Stoney Creek ...

A court has heard a former ballroom dance champion “tried to get into bed” with a woman without her consent and “awkwardly” questioned her skills as a dancer. Trenton Shipley, 48, is facing seven charges relating to the alleged sexual touching and assault of a woman over the course of one evening in early 2021. Both Mr Shipley and the ...

A Dubbo teenager who allegedly wielded a knife and stabbed an elderly business owner after a botched robbery has sought bail. Tyreak Shillingsworth-Byers, 19, was supported by a packed courtroom of family members, including his mother, as he appeared via video link from Wellington Correctional Centre on Monday. He was refused bail after his arrest on Saturday night and charged ...

Brisbane suffered the greatest financial loss on the east coast following February’s flooding event of more than $1bn, according to a new report that found it to be the most expensive flood in Australia’s history. The total cost of South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales’ February to March floods has so far reached $5.28bn, according to the Insurance ...

Four children and three adults were hospitalised after a bus veered off the road and crashed into a ditch during a school trip to NSW’s alpine region. Authorities said the bus – which was carrying 36 children and five adults – lost control on Kosciusko Rd near Guthega Rd between Perisher and Jindabyne just before 5.30pm on Monday. Paramedics took ...

Investigators of a ‘suspicious’ blaze which destroyed a $24 million waterfront property have discovered fire accelerant within the Northwood home’s charred remains. A FIRE accelerant has been detected among the charred remains of a $24 million dollar waterfront home which burnt down in suspicious circumstances. Specially trained Fire and Rescue NSW sniffer dogs picked up the scent on Monday which ...

It’s a six-word text message that will haunt a father for the rest of his life. John Van De Putte’s “baby girl” Lily, 14, texted him asking “Dad, can i go out tonight?”. But Mr Van De Putte was in hospital and didn’t receive the message. “The answer would have been no, it was a school night, but I never ...