By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim In a 4 July 2022 letter on drug driving laws, Drive Change campaign lead David Heilpern explained to NSW Labor MLC Chris Rath that when he was a NSW Magistrate, he’d sentenced “literally hundreds of defendants”, who were on cannabis medicine yet convicted over drug driving. Indeed, part of… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal (NSWCCA) confirmed in a 19 February 2024 ruling that the offence of the offence of drug driving in New South Wales is an absolute liability offence, which means the long relied upon legal defence of honest and reasonable mistake of fact is not… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim “In my view, it is clearly inappropriate that personal references used in sentencing proceedings are generated by, or with the assistance of” a large language model program, determined ACT Supreme Court Justice David Mossop two weeks ago. And as to why, his Honour explained that “if they are not… Read more »
Seven teenagers were charged with offences ranging from car theft to police pursuit early on Monday, as NSW police attempted to stop three vehicles close to the NSW town of Woy Woy at 2.30 am, as these were suspected to be reportedly stolen from suburbs around the Central Coast. One vehicle, a BMW, rammed into a police… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Two incidents in 2016 that involved spit hoods in certain Australian jurisdictions brought the issue of the controversial use of these antiquated devices to national and global attention. The first was the airing of the Four Corners documentary Australia’s Shame, which featured imagery of a shirtless 17-year-old Aboriginal boy strapped to… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Eight years ago last Thursday, in Lismore Local Court, then NSW Magistrate David Heilpern ruled in favour of Joseph Carrall in regard to a drug driving charge, as he found the accused hadn’t consumed cannabis for “at least nine days prior” to testing positive for driving with its presence in… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Legendary Sydney whistleblower Sallie-Anne Huckstepp knew her time was up after she’d accussed NSW police detective sergeant Roger Rogerson of killing her boyfriend, heroin dealer Warren Lanfranchi, during a 1981 interview with 60 Minutes. Such was the reputation of the notorious Sydney police officer, who died on 21 January, after suffering… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim What possessed Matthew Laba to pose as a registered Sydney criminal lawyer and represent four clients across four separate criminal cases in courts across the Greater Sydney region over a period of months, continues to remain a mystery. Indeed, it’s been lost upon no one that the television series Suits,… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Ngarrindjeri and Narungga man Derek Bromley was sentenced to life imprisonment by the South Australian Supreme Court on 14 March 1985, for the murder of Stephen Docoza, who was bludgeoned to death on 4 April 1984 and was found floating in Adelaide’s River Torrens days later. Bromley’s case is significant as… Read more »
Wiradjuri woman DN came to the notice of the NSW welfare officers in October 2009, which led to the imposition of a care order in relation to her two children, under the terms of section 61 of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW) (the Care Act). The New South Wales Children’s… Read more »
