criminal defence | O'BRIEN CRIMINAL & CIVIL SOLICITORS

Forcible strip-search of female inmate violated Human Rights law

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, criminal defence, strip search / By Sarah Gore / September 21, 2021 September 21, 2021

The forcible strip-search of a female inmate at a Canberra jail earlier this year breached the territory’s Human Rights Act. The ACT Inspector of Correctional Services released the review into the strip-search last week. He found that the decision to forcibly strip-search the inmate didn’t comply with the Human Rights legislation. Indigenous woman allegedly strip-searched …

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Raise the Age: Getting Children out of Prisons

childrens court, crime, criminal defence / By Sarah Gore / September 7, 2021 September 9, 2021

Across Australia, children as young as 10 can be arrested by police, charged with an offence, hauled before Children’s Court and locked away in a prison. In response to this, Raise the Age is a campaign for the federal, state and territory governments to do what is right and #raisetheage of criminal responsibility. Accordingly, Australia …

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Raise the Age Getting Children out of Prisons (1)

Tasmanian female inmates subjected to 841 strip-searches in 7 months

crime, criminal defence, prison, strip search / By Sarah Gore / September 6, 2021 September 6, 2021

New data reveals that 841 strip-searches of women in Tasmanian prisons took place in a seven-month period, with only three failing the search. The figures obtained by the Human Rights Law Centre under a right to information (RTI) request revealed the data for the period between October 2020 and April 2021. The documents show that …

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Tasmanian prisons female inmates subjected to 841 strip-searches in 7 months

Retrial ordered for man jailed over involvement in Curtis Cheng execution

crime, criminal defence, police / By Sarah Gore / September 1, 2021 September 1, 2021

The Sydney man who is in jail in connection to the execution of NSW Police employee Curtis Cheng has had his conviction thrown out on appeal. Mustafa Dirani will undergo a retrial into his involvement of the 2015 murder. Dirani got a jail sentence of 28 years in 2019 after a guilty verdict of conspiracy …

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Cease prison transfers until COVID-19 rapid testing introduced

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, criminal defence, prison / By Sarah Gore / August 31, 2021 August 31, 2021

UPDATE: We have been informed that prisoner transfers have now ceased. It’s great that the movement prisoners across the state has stopped. Now, the NSW Government needs to take urgent steps to: Release all non-violent offenders; Ensure housing and release support is provided; Rapid testing is immediately made available; Remissions applied for these strict lockdowns …

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Cease transport of inmates between prisons until COVID-19 rapid testing introduced

Got a COVID fine for outdoor recreation? Consider appealing

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, criminal defence / By Sarah Gore / August 27, 2021 September 9, 2021

NSW Police have been mistakenly handing out COVID-19 fines up to $3,000 to people who were engaging in lawful recreation activities. These activities are permissible under the public health orders. Outside an area of concern, citizens may: Sit in a park by themselves or with one other person or nominated person or household members; eat …

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Urge for people to appeal wrongly issued COVID fines for 'recreation'

Police wrongly issuing COVID fines won’t be held accountable: Police Commissioner

criminal defence, police / By Sarah Gore / August 25, 2021 August 25, 2021

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller has told officers in a video that he won’t hold them to account for wrongly issuing COVID-19 fines. He’s called for a priority in enforcing health orders outside emergency duties. Fuller issued his officers a challenge, asking them to “go high-level enforcement” ahead of Operation Stay at Home. “We need …

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Public health orders fail to understand remote communities

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, criminal defence, police / By Sarah Gore / August 23, 2021 August 23, 2021

Residents of the remote town of Brewarrina, in North-West NSW, say too many people are being fined thousands of dollars by police, with a failure on the part of police to use their discretion. The town doesn’t currently have any COVID-19 cases. However, with the spread heading out west, police are vigilantly enforcing the public …

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Police charge man over party that spread COVID into Hunter region

criminal defence / By Sarah Gore / August 18, 2021 August 18, 2021

The man who allegedly hosted a series of house parties is facing charges of breaching public health orders. Two Sydney women who attended the parties have tested positive to the virus. The man, who later contracted the virus himself, got a court attendance notice from Police, who ordered him to appear in Newcastle Local Court …

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Man charged over party that spread COVID into Hunter region

Inmates at Silverwater test positive to COVID-19

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, bail, criminal defence, prison / By Sarah Gore / August 17, 2021 August 17, 2021

Four inmates at Silverwater jail in Sydney’s west have tested positive to COVID-19. The inmates had just entered custody and were in the jail’s remand and reception area. The prison has been routinely testing all new inmates for the virus when they arrive. The prison then places the inmates in quarantine for 14 days before …

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