Alex Robert Smart has been found guilty of murdering a father of 5 on a Queensland Highway. 

The murder of Tylor Bell occurred on Father’s Day in 2019. Mr Bell approached an intersection in Gympie, Queensland where he got into a quarrel with Smart. Smart then exited his vehicle and stabbed Mr Bell in the chest, penetrating his heart. Mr Bell was taken to the hospital, however passed away a week later. 

The two had previously entered into an altercation at a nearby shopping centre, the cause of which remains unknown. 

The now 29 year old, Smart, sat trial in the Brisbane Supreme Court this past week. The jury found him guilty of the murder on Thursday. Smart has been sentenced to a life imprisonment.  

Judge Applegarth commented, ‘One man is dead. Your life is ruined. Five children are left without a father. Others have lost a so, a brother. Friends have lost a good friend.’

Mr Bell’s mother commented, ‘I am angry at how TJ was taken away from us, how TJ died, as though his life didn’t matter, but TJ’s life mattered,” she said in a statement read to the court.’

Our team specialise in criminal defence. Our role is to sit down with you and work out the strategy that will get you the best possible result. If you have any questions about this article or any other topic of law, please call our team of experts on 1300 066 669.

On 15 May 2022, Mr Avzi Ejupi was found dead in his Kingston home by police having suffered significant head injuries.  

An investigation was launched as the Police were suspicious of the circumstances of Mr Ejupi’s death after discovering his body in the garage of his home. 

Homicide detectives interviewed several people including a number of housemates who resided at the address with Mr Ejupi. The deceased was reported as being well-known to police and the investigation is ongoing as they uncover more evidence including the motive for the murder  

On Monday afternoon, Police arrested and charged Mr Shane Chard, a 54-year-old man from Beenleigh, with the murder of Mr Ejupi.  

The matter was heard in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Tuesday 24 May 2022 where Mr Chard did not appear in relation to the matter. It was adjourned to 4 July 2022. 

Police still have not confirmed if a murder weapon has been found, if the injuries to his head were the cause of death or if he had any other injuries. 

At this stage the investigation appears to be ongoing in the matter. 

Murder is a charge under section 302 of the Criminal Code of Queensland and carries the maximum penalty of life imprisonment. 

Our team specialise in criminal defence. Our role is to sit down with you and work out the strategy that will get you the best possible result. If you have any questions about this article or any other topic of law, please call our team of experts on 1300 066 669.

New South Wales Police have charged step-father Justin Stein with the death of nine-year-old Charlise Mutten. 

Charlise was found dead inside a barrel near the Colo River in the Blue Mountains following a family holiday in January 2022. Charlise lived in Queensland with her grandparents but had travelled to NSW to spend her school holidays with her mother and her partner Mr Stein. 

Mr Stein was tracked by Police through CCTV from a dock in Sydney to the Colo River where Charlise’s remains were found inside a barrel. Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson stated that Mr Stein’s movements included

“to fuel a boat and then to try and float that on one of the docks on Sydney Harbour … then tracking that individual back to the location [where the body was found]” 

Mr Stein’s lawyer has indicated that Mr Stein plans to plead not guilty to the charge as Police continue to search for the murder weapon. It is believed that Charlise was shot with a small-calibre firearm.

Recently Police attended Silverwater Correction Centre to charge Mr Stein with additional charges of possessing an unauthorised and unregistered firearm, possession of ammunition without a licence and break and enter (in company). Mr Stein was also charged with possession child abuse material linked to other, unrelated matters. 

Mr Stein did not attend the Penrith Court on Friday, 20 May 2022 when the Prosecutor indicated that approximately 120 items of significance had also been seized including from his electronic devices. Mr Stein has been remanded in custody pending his next date in the Penrith Local Court on 15 July 2022. 

Our team specialise in criminal defence. Our role is to sit down with you and work out the strategy that will get you the best possible result. If you have any questions about this article or any other topic of law, please call our team of experts on 1300 066 669.

A number of hefty fines have now been introduced by NSW to further discourage retailers and others from selling vaping items containing nicotine after a number of young people have been found to have taken up the habit and be in possession of the nicotine products despite the laws which were designed to prevent them accessing the products.

Online Stores

Online stores selling the items face a maximum penalty of a fine of $1,650.00 per offences, or six months imprisonment, or in some circumstances they face both penalties.

Supplying to Minors

Individuals face fines of up to $11,000.00 for a first offences and fines of up to $55,000.00 for second or subsequent offences.

Corporations face fines of up to $55,000.00 for a first offences and fines of up to $110,000.00 for second or subsequent offences.

In NSW alone this year over $1 million of illegal e-cigarettes and products containing nicotine have been seized by police. This is a third of the amount that has been seized since July 2020. The total number is now at over $3 million worth of the banned products.

Kerry Chant, NSW Chief Health Officer has issued a warning to all retailers that they are cracking down on those retailers who are selling the banned products. A zero tolerance approach is being taken by NSW Health due to the harm these products cause those using them.

NSW Health are conducting regular raids across the state and warn those selling them that they will be caught. Retailers caught selling the banned products will have the items seized and could face prosecution. The penalties for these offences can be fines or a custodial sentence depending on the circumstances.

Health Officials are urging people not to purchase or use the nicotine vaping products due to them being harmful to those using them, especially young people who have been increasingly taking up the vaping “trend”.

In October 2021, laws were passed which allow those over 18 years of age to purchase nicotine vaping products but only with a prescription for smoking cessation purposes. They are able to purchase the products from Australian pharmacies or import the products into Australia with a valid prescription.

In NSW it is illegal for any other retailers to be selling any e-cigarettes or e-liquids which contain nicotine.

The fines have come after alarming numbers of 12 to 17 year old’s have reported purchasing their e-cigarettes and e-liquids themselves causing NSW Health to further crackdown on retailers who are supplying the harmful product to the minors who were not supposed to have access to the products. 

Our team specialise in criminal defence. Our role is to sit down with you and work out the strategy that will get you the best possible result. If you have any questions about this article or any other topic of law, please call our team of experts on 1300 066 669.

An unidentified diver was found unconscious on the banks of the Hunter River at Newcastle harbour on Monday morning at approximately 9:30am. Paramedics and members of the public couldn’t revive him when he was located.

In his immediate vicinity were a number of packages of a white powder which Police suspect to be cocaine. His death is being treated as suspicious and linked to the drugs found near his location. It is suspected he was attempted to bring the packages to shore however it is unclear where the packages were being transported from.

There was more than 50 kilograms of the white powder found beside the diver, which if it is identified as being cocaine, is potentially worth an estimated street value of $20 million. A crime scene was established by police as they continue to investigate what occurred and the packages found with the male.

The male is yet to be formally identified at this stage and a post-mortem investigation will be carried out this week. There is still not clear indication of what caused the man to drown.

The Australian Federal Police and Australian Border Force are joining the State Police investigation given the large quantity of the suspected drug located with the deceased male diver and the location he was found. 

Police and Border Force divers will be continuing their search of the area today to further provide information about what occurred. The investigation continues into this matter.

Our team specialise in criminal defence. Our role is to sit down with you and work out the strategy that will get you the best possible result. If you have any questions about this article or any other topic of law, please call our team of experts on 1300 066 669.

For the past 12 months Queensland police have been trialling using metal detectors to locate knifes and other weapons carried by individuals in Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach. Since the trial began, 133 concealed weapons have been uncovered leading to the charge of 106 weapon offences. 

The trial was initiated as a result of a series of stabbings in the night life precinct of Surfers Paradise. 

Included in the concealed weapons uncovered during the initiative were machetes, sharpened screw drivers, flick knives, replica guns, knuckle dusters, and a tomahawk. 

During the initiative, police operated metal detectors to conduct checks on 11,775 people, including 3,275 juveniles. 

Acting assistant commissioner Wildman said, “We’ve seen a 100 per cent reduction in armed hold-up offences and more stunningly an 850 per cent reduction of wounding matters.” 

Though the trial has ended, the metal detector checks are set to continue.

Griffith University has been tasked with reviewing the trial to assess its success and make a recommendation to the government as to whether the initiative should be made permanent. 

Our team specialise in criminal defence. Our role is to sit down with you and work out the strategy that will get you the best possible result. If you have any questions about this article or any other topic of law, please call our team of experts on 1300 066 669.

A police investigation is underway, and charges have been laid following an incident in a Burleigh Heads public bathroom on Monday morning.

It is alleged that at approximately 5:40am on Monday morning the 43-year-old victim has entered into a stall in the public bathroom. He is alleged to have been followed into the stall by a 31-year-old male.

The victim and alleged attacker and not known to each other and it is alleged that the attacker has followed the victim from Broadbeach to Burleigh Heads on the tram and bus. The victim has noticed an unknown to him male paying him undue attention. The victim was alleged suspicious of his attacker when he noticed he was following him after he got off the bus.

 The younger male is alleged to have stabbed the victim in the head from behind and has slashed the victim with a knife. It is reported that he was confronted by passersby after a blood curdling scream was heard from the bathroom and other males entered the bathroom facilities to ascertain what happened and stepped in to stop the attack. 

The 31-year-old fled the scene and was later apprehended by Police in Palm Beach and arrested in relation to the assault. He had been followed by passersby after the attack to ascertain where he was fleeing to. 

He has been charged with attempted murder. He appeared before the Southport Magistrates Court on Tuesday in relation to the charge. 

The victim was transported to the Gold Coast University Hospital in a serious condition with injuries to both his head and hand. He is reported to still be in a serious but stable condition.

Our team specialise in criminal defence. Our role is to sit down with you and work out the strategy that will get you the best possible result. If you have any questions about this article or any other topic of law, please call our team of experts on 1300 066 669.

Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, a Malaysian national with learning disabilities, convicted of trafficking just 42.7 grammes of heroine in 2010, has been executed in Singapore. 

In 2009, Mr Dharmalingam, who has an IQ of 69, said he was coerced into trafficking the heroin as a way to pay off his debts. He said the debts were accumulated as he tried to support his mother and his family. This version was rejected by the Prosecution, was was deemed a deliberate, purposeful and calculated decision. Singapore has a zero-tolerance drug policy. Mr Dharmalingam was sentenced to death by hanging.   

Mr Dharmalingam’s mother has long campaigned for a stay of his execution. However, judges said her last-minute plea was “vexatious”, calling her legal efforts to save Mr Dharmalingam’s life a “blatant and egregious abuse” of the legal process, and that it was “improper to engage in or encourage last ditch attempts” to delay or stop an execution.  

The death penalty in Australia existed up until 1985. Queensland was the first to abolish the death penalty in 1922. Tasmania followed in 1968, ACT and the Northern Territory in 1975, South Australia in 1976, Western Australian in 1984 and finally New South Wales in 1985.  

 In 2010, the Commonwealth Parliament passed legislation prohibiting the re-establishment of capital punishment by any state or territory. Australian law also prohibits the extradition or deportation of a prisoner to another jurisdiction if they could be sentenced to death for any crime. 

 Our team specialise in criminal defence. Our role is to sit down with you and work out the strategy that will get you the best possible result. If you have any questions about this article or any other topic of law, please call our team of experts on 1300 066 669. 

On Tuesday in the Supreme Court in Burnie a 28-year-old past female cleaner from a Tasmanian school’s sentence began after she was charged with sexually abusing a 13-year-old male student. Their relationship is estimated to have lasted for over four months between approximately June and September in 2021. The relationship only ended after the boy’s father discovered the relationship and the matter was reported to the police.

The boy’s father has checked his son’s mobile phone and discovered pictures of the pair together and also notes of dates such as their first kiss, first time they held hands, and first time they said I love you to each other. 

The woman is said to have become friends with the boy’s mother in early 2021 and was considered to be an aunt figure in his life. His family were deeply disturbed when they uncovered the relationship given the nature of her involvement in his life.

The victims mother confronted the 28-year-old after the abuse was discovered and the woman is then alleged to have created a fake Snapchat account so the two could continue talking despite their relationship being uncovered.

The Crown case has included evidence that one of the boy’s 13-year-old friends on one occasion has witnessed the pair performing oral sex in a parked vehicle. The pair are alleged to have had sexual intercourse on at least seven occasions, multiple of these occasions are said to have occurred without as condom. However, it is not alleged that the sexual intercourse occurred without the consent of the 13-year-old. Consent is not the issue the court is concerned with in this case, the main concern is the woman taking advantage of the victims youthfulness and vulnerability and maintaining the relationship over the four month period.

The 13-year-old began self-harming after the abuse was uncovered by his parents and is not getting support for his mental health. 

The woman’s legal representative has said that his client is deeply remorseful for her actions and says she believed she was in love with the boy at the time of their relationship. The court has heard that she was lonely and depressed and accepts that she has ruined her own life through her actions.

Mr Pat Sullivan is representing the woman and has told the court that the boy initiated the sexual encounters between the pair on most of the occasions.

The woman has plead guilty to persistent sexual abuse of a child or young person and is facing a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison for the offence. The sentencing began on Tuesday and has been adjourned to 18 May 2022 for further submissions to be made. 

Our team specialise in criminal defence. Our role is to sit down with you and work out the strategy that will get you the best possible result. If you have any questions about this article or any other topic of law, please call our team of experts on 1300 066 669.