WA news LIVE: Perth hills driver to fight charges over Christmas Day head-on crash
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Perth hills driver to fight charges over Christmas Day head-on crash
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A Hovea man who was allegedly behind the wheel of a car involved in a horror head-on collision on Christmas Day in Perth's east has pleaded not guilty to six counts of dangerous driving.
Ryan North, 47, was allegedly behind the wheel of a Toyota Corolla hatchback when it and a Hyundai Santa Fe station wagon collided on the afternoon of December 25 in Greenmount.
The crash happened on the Great Eastern Highway near Old York Road, about five kilometres east of Midland.
Two women aged 45 and 48, each a passenger in one of the vehicles, were taken by ambulance to Royal Perth Hospital with critical injuries.
The 48-year-old male driver, and two other passengers aged 17 and 10 who were in the Hyundai Santa Fe, were taken to hospital with serious injuries.
North sustained minor injuries as a result of the crash, police said at the time.
He was charged earlier this month with six counts of careless driving causing bodily harm and made his first appearance in Midland Magistrates Court yesterday.
During the hearing, North pleaded not guilty to all charges and said he wanted a neurological report to be provided to the court, as well as crash expert opinion.
He will be back before Perth Magistrates Court in November.
9.43am
Across Australia and around the world
Here's what's making headlines elsewhere today:
Indo-Pacific experts in the United States have urged Australia to speak more clearly about the threats posed by China, including how it would respond in the event of a regional conflict, or risk the AUKUS submarine agreement that is now under review by the Trump administration. It comes after US lawmakers from both main parties pushed Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to keep the deal, ahead of the review's completion in coming months.
European leaders have aired a potential deal to halt the war in Ukraine under plans to be put to Russian leader Vladimir Putin in talks with US President Donald Trump on Friday, signalling a negotiation over territory as long as a ceasefire comes first. The proposal came in an online meeting attended by Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with Zelensky telling his European counterparts that Putin was 'bluffing' about his desire for peace.
The Australian sharemarket is set to advance on Thursday as US stocks drifted around record levels on Wednesday. Wall Street made gains after expectations reached a virtual consensus that the US Federal Reserve would cut its main interest rates for the first time this year at its next meeting in September, boosting investment prices and the economy while making it cheaper for households and businesses to borrow.
9.42am
Today's weather
9.42am
Welcome to our live news blog
Good morning readers and welcome to our live news blog for Thursday, August 14.
Making headlines today is new data from property analysts Cotality, formerly CoreLogic, which reveals Perth prices are – surprise, surprise – at a record high and have increased the most out of any capital city bar one.
The data revealed Perth's dwelling value growth was up 0.9 per cent over the month and 2.6 per cent over the rolling quarter.
Cotality economist Kaytlin Ezzy said Perth's strong value growth was driven by a combination of low advertised supply and elevated demand.
Holly Thompson has the full story. You can read it here.
Meanwhile, an Ellenbrook teenager has spent his first night behind bars after his suspended sentence for coward-punching a fellow student was overturned on Wednesday.
The 14-year-old victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was at Ellenbrook Central shopping centre with friends in April when he was struck from behind.
His 16-year-old attacker, who was 15 at the time of the attack and cannot be named due to his age, was confronted by shoppers and fled the scene.
On Wednesday last week, the 16-year-old was handed a six-month suspended sentence with supervision, but that decision was overturned days later by Children's Court President Hylton Quail, who said a strong message must be sent to about the dangers of one-punch attacks.
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