By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim On 5 May 2021, NSW police arrested Luke Sparos in relation to the 6 November 2020 shooting death of Samir Marcus, and officers subsequently charged the man with intent to murder and attempting to pervert the course of justice. The second offence Sparos is facing relates to an incident that… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim In the mid-1970s, the “Mr Asia” drug syndicate commenced operations. It was a multi-million-dollar criminal network initially importing cannabis and then heroin from Southeast Asia into Australia, New Zealand and the UK, via Singapore distributor Choo Cheng Kui or Chinese Jack. James “Diamond Jim” Shepherd was initially the network’s banker…. Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim On 13 September 2022, officers attached to the NSW Police Central Metropolitan Region Enforcement Squad were conducting a surveillance operation in a street in the western Sydney suburb of Prospect, where a stolen Audi Q5 car had been noted as parked and left unattended. Just after 10:30 pm, the… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim A 15-year-old male came to the attention of the AFP’s NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT) in May 2015, as he’d been accessing violent Islamic extremist material online. The AFP’s National Disruption Group (NDG) then got in touch with the teen’s family and suggested his father make a plan… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Sydney criminal defence lawyer Mohammed Zreika was found guilty of the offence of perverting the course of justice, under section 319 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), by Magistrate Jennifer Atkinson at Sutherland Local Court on 19 November 2021. The offence carries a maximum penalty of 14 years behind bars. The magistrate… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim A Supreme Court jury found the accused man, Simon Rodden, not guilty of a charge of murder on 22 July 2022, over an incident which was alleged to have occurred in June 2017. The accused was granted legal aid in early 2020, with the terms of the grant requiring… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim A man was driving along Cowpasture Road in southwest Sydney’s Horningsea Park, close to midnight on 12 September 2020, when the manner of his driving caught the attention of some NSW police officers, who promptly directed him to pull his utility over. The officers subjected the driver to a… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim NSW Magistrate Roger Prowse entered not guilty pleas beside five charges laid against Tray Elwood at Cobar Local Court on 26 October last year, committing the defendant to stand trial in the NSW District Court in relation to three of the criminal offences, while two were to be dealt with… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim In late 2018, Robert Wass pleaded guilty to common assault, contrary section 61 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), in relation to his having punched his nephew in the face, after catching him hunting pigs on his property without permission. The young man punched his uncle back for good measure…. Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim According to the Law Council of Australia, key rule of law principles include being equal before the law, and that “everyone should have access to competent and independent legal advice”, with this latter point supporting the first, as it ensures those who can’t afford it are provided legal support. In… Read more »
