logo
‘Scared to death': Media personality Jan Beasley reveals horror moment blood-covered woman broke into home after alleged murder

‘Scared to death': Media personality Jan Beasley reveals horror moment blood-covered woman broke into home after alleged murder

News.com.au18-06-2025
Media personality Jan Beasley has revealed the horror moment a woman covered in blood smashed her way into her home shortly after allegedly murdering a man with a disability in Adelaide.
Police charged a 30-year-old woman for allegedly breaking into a property on Walkerville Terrace in Gilberton and allegedly murdering Andrew Sorby-Adams, 65, who was living nearby.
Police were called to a unit in Adelaide's north about 7pm on Monday after a carer requested a welfare check for their patient after they were unable to access the man's property.
Mr Sorby-Adams was located by paramedics with stab wounds and was declared dead at the scene.
Shortly before the man's body was found, the woman allegedly smashed through the backdoor of a home owned by former Channel 7 personality Jan Beasley and her husband John.
Confronting footage has emerged of the moment the alleged offender picked up a pot plant and broke into the home, partially clothed and covered in blood.
'Get away from our house, go away!' Mr Beasley yelled at the woman.
When police arrived, they ordered the woman to drop before tackling her to the ground.
Ms Beasley told 7News that it took five police officers to pin the woman down.
'Something has to change, honestly and truly,' she told reporters.
'Everyone in this neighbourhood now is scared to death.'
No one was injured during the incident.
Mr Sorby-Adams' body was found by paramedics with multiple stab wounds.
Despite best efforts, he could not be saved.
Locals described Mr Sorby-Adams as a 'quiet' and nice person who lived with a disability and 'kept to himself'.
He required a carer, who told 7News they were at the supermarket at the time of the alleged attack and was unable to contact Mr Sorby-Adams upon their return.
SA Police Acting Superintendent Damien Eichner told reporters on Tuesday that a weapon was seized at the scene.
He said it was 'extremely lucky' no one else was injured during the incident.
'This type of event has catastrophic impacts upon families, upon the community itself and the wellbeing of everyone involved,' he said.
The woman was taken to hospital for treatment of superficial wounds.
She has now been charged with murder, trespassing and property damage.
She was remanded in a mental health facility and her identity suppressed. She appeared before Adelaide Magistrates Court via phone link and is yet to plead to the charges.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

20th Anniversary Collection: Vickie Roach's turbulent life in and out of strife
20th Anniversary Collection: Vickie Roach's turbulent life in and out of strife

ABC News

timean hour ago

  • ABC News

20th Anniversary Collection: Vickie Roach's turbulent life in and out of strife

When Vickie Roach was just 2 years old, she was given a police record, enabling authorities to place her into the custody of a family she didn't know. She grew up in western Sydney, under the strict religious rule of her adoptive mother, with whom she clashed time and again. Vickie left school at 13., and in the same year she met her birth mother for the first time and discovered she was Aboriginal. Decades of trouble followed, including numerous prison terms. But Vickie has also known periods of stability, like winning back her son after a long-running custody dispute. In 2007, Vickie was awarded her master's degree while serving her final prison sentence at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in Victoria. She was also the plaintiff in a ground-breaking legal challenge to the High Court, which returned to prisoners serving less than three years' the right to vote. Vickie now works as an advocate for the rights of women in prison. Content warning: this episode contains mentions of violence, suicide and drug use. Further information First broadcast in May, 2019. Vickie appears in ABC TV's You Cant Ask That - Domestic Violence (survivors) episode Vickie was joint winner of the 2017 Tim McCoy Human Rights Award Adoption resources and support Find and Connect - support for former residents of children's homes, orphanages and institutions; Benevolent Society Australia - post-adoption support; For forced adoption support you can visit the Government support services website or contact the Forced Adoption Support Service in your state or territory on 1800 21 03 13. For immediate support, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 46 36. You can read all about the Conversations origin story on the ABC News website.

As Bruce Lehrmann re-enters the 'lion's den', his defamation appeal centres on four main points
As Bruce Lehrmann re-enters the 'lion's den', his defamation appeal centres on four main points

ABC News

timean hour ago

  • ABC News

As Bruce Lehrmann re-enters the 'lion's den', his defamation appeal centres on four main points

When Bruce Lehrmann wanders back into the "lion's den" of the Federal Court of Australia today he won't be looking for his hat. Rather, he'll be seeking to strike out the truth defence which scuttled his defamation claim against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson. The main target of his challenge is the finding that — on the balance of probabilities — he did rape his former colleague Brittany Higgins in the office of their boss Senator Linda Reynolds, at Parliament House in Canberra in 2019. It's important to note Mr Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence, and there are no criminal findings against him. His ACT Supreme Court trial was abandoned because of a juror's misconduct, and the charge was later dropped. Mr Lehrmann maintains that although he wasn't named in the interview with Brittany Higgins on The Project, he was identifiable, and thus was defamed. His problem is that "truth" is a defence in a defamation case, justifying actions that would otherwise fall foul of the law. When Justice Michael Lee found the allegation was "on the balance of probabilities" true, Mr Lehrmann's hopes of pressing his claim for damages stalled. The appeal has four grounds, including that the justification defence in the judgement was different to the case put forward by Network Ten and the material had not been put to the relevant witnesses, in a breach of procedural fairness. But even though Justice Lee found the allegation true, he didn't accept the portrayal of events presented on The Project when Ms Higgins said she had said "no" several times "on a loop". "I have not reached a level of satisfaction that during the sexual act Ms Higgins said, 'no on a loop', and I think it is more likely than not that she did not, or was not, able to articulate anything," Justice Lee said. "On balance, I find it is more likely than not that she was passive (as she later said, 'like a log') during the entirety of the sexual act." Mr Lehrmann's case said Ten hadn't established the defence of justification. The appeal also challenges the assessment the judge made about what was conveyed to an ordinary, reasonable person. And Mr Lehrmann says the Judge erred when he decided — if he'd succeeded in his case — he "was entitled to a mere $20,000 in damages". Ten was ultimately awarded $2 million in costs, although the court has stayed that until the appeal is heard. No-one imagines the money will be collected, since Mr Lehrmann's dire financial situation is now well known. It was Justice Lee himself who described the controversial case as a "cause celebre" and an "omnishambles". The public interest never waned from the criminal trial in Canberra, to the Federal Court trial in Sydney in 2023 and 2024. Indeed, the defamation trial was in part a repeat of the criminal trial, but with more detail. Both Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann gave evidence over several days, the first time the latter was cross-examined on his account of the night in question. Brittany Higgins, who was not subject to the defamation action, gave evidence over several days. And Bruce Lehrmann himself gave evidence in person which he hadn't in the criminal trial. This time around, the journalists who prepared the story, including Lisa Wilkinson, were also called to give evidence. And then there was the spectacular appearance of the Seven Network's Taylor Auerbach. The trial was re-opened to hear Mr Auerbach's evidence about how he had acted as a babysitter for Mr Lehrmann, as he was reeled in for his own interviews, with the Spotlight program. There were allegations of expensive dinners — and invoices for money used to buy drugs and sex workers — as well as the revelation that Mr Lehrmann had been given a lease on a property for a year to secure his exclusive interview. The Seven Network, which was not part of the defamation proceeding, said it did not reimburse Bruce Lehrmann for expenditure allegedly used to pay for illegal drugs or sex workers. Ms Higgins was not spared either. She was forced to reveal to the court that her previously confidential settlement with the Commonwealth was $2.4 million. It's now well known the night began when Mr Lehrmann joined Ms Higgins and other colleagues for drinks at The Dock bar on the foreshore of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra in March 2019. The pair went on to another venue, with two others, before ending up at Parliament House. Ms Higgins told The Project it was there she was sexually assaulted by Mr Lehrmann. She later told Ms Wilkinson in her interview she woke up "mid-rape", and that she cried and told him to stop at least half a dozen times. In the interview, she said she'd been left on the couch in a state of undress. Mr Lehrmann denied any sexual activity took place. He said they'd gone there to drink whiskey and that he'd been making Question Time notes. In his judgement, Justice Lee was highly critical of Mr Lehrmann, describing his account of the night as an "elaborate fancy". "… his attachment to the truth was a tenuous one, informed not by faithfulness to his affirmation but by fashioning his responses in what he perceived to be his forensic interests." But Justice Lee did not spare Ms Higgins either. "Ms Brittany Higgins, Mr Lehrmann's accuser, was also an unsatisfactory witness who made some allegations that made her a heroine to one group of partisans, but when examined forensically, have undermined her general credibility to a disinterested fact-finder," he said. Clearly Justice Lee's judgement supports Ms Higgins claim she was sexually assaulted. But his findings target other aspects of The Project program, including the claims of a cover-up. Justice Lee said the notion Ms Higgins had been forced to choose between her career and justice may have won the program a "glittering prize", but when examined properly it was supposition without reasonable foundation. Justice Lee found Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson should have done more to examine the inconsistencies in Ms Higgins's account. These are findings likely to be deployed in this week's appeal. Network Ten tried hard to avoid the situation altogether, offering to settle with Mr Lehrmann. But he refused, despite settling with the ABC, as well as with journalist Samantha Maiden and her employer after she was the first to publish an online story about the allegations.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store