By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Algerian national Abdul Benbrika immigrated to Australia in 1989 and became a citizen in 1998, in line with section 15 of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth) (the Act), which involved pledging allegiance to the nation. And he also maintained his Algerian citizenship. Benbrika was found guilty by a Supreme Court… Read more »
NSW Courts Articles
Lengthy Compliance with Bail Does Not Justify Relaxation of Bail Conditions
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 »
Australian Offences of Genocide, Aggression, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Coming into effect on 1 July 2002, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court established not only the ICC, but it sets in place the four core international criminal offences of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crimes of aggression. The treaty applies to 123 states…. Read more »
Judge Criticises Cowboy Prosecutors and Calls on Government to Pay Defendant’s Legal Costs
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Just after 9 am on 28 November 2021, local man Simon Fleming appeared at the intersection of Windang and Acacia Streets in the Wollongong, armed with a bolt action rifle, a gel blaster that appeared to be a self-loading rifle and a silver case resembling an explosive device. Fleming… Read more »
The Shepherd Direction: Fundamental Facts Must Be Proved Beyond Reasonable Doubt in Circumstantial Cases
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 »
Police Officer Fails to Have Assault Charges Dismissed on Mental Health Grounds
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 »
The Defence of Automatism: No Criminal Responsibility for Unconscious and Unforeseeable Conduct
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim At 4.51 am on 19 December 2019, Nicholas Parker was driving his father’s car along Kurrajong Road in the NSW town of Richmond, when the 19-year-old apprentice electrician fell asleep, veered across to the other side of the road and hit two cyclists riding along the shoulder of the… Read more »
Terrorism Offences: Judges Must Properly Consider Mitigating Factors During Sentencing
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 »
Conduct Suggesting Consciousness of Guilt Insufficient to Convict, Appeal Court Finds
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Just after noon on 10 August 2018, Jeff McKee burst into the Hereford Street home of Blake Davis in Sydney’s Glebe. Davis was eating breakfast with his girlfriend Hannah Quinn, when the intruder, armed with a set of knuckledusters and a handgun, appeared inside the house. McKee screamed at… Read more »
Man Acquitted of Historical Criminal Charges as NSW Police Had Fabricated the Evidence
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Eric Honeysett was arraigned and pleaded not guilty before a jury in the Supreme Court of New South Wales on 6 October 1987 for one count of supplying a prohibited drug under section 25 of the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW) and one of malicious wounding with… Read more »