Builder paid boat workers in meth: court
Wayne Geoffrey Dwyer, the former director of Sunshine Coast-based construction company Dwyer Homes Pty Ltd, avoided jail during his court appearance on Wednesday for 'significant' supplies of the drug, which occurred over more than three months back in 2022.
The supplies occurred 86 times to three customers over the period.
Dwyer pleaded guilty to 90 charges - including 86 counts of supplying dangerous drugs.
The 63-year-old had been using the drug to ameliorate the condition of his Parkinson's disease, Supreme Court Justice Frances Williams said during the sentencing.
The court was told Dwyer supplied meth to three people who were working on his houseboat - moored at Minyama in the Sunshine Coast at the time he was busted.
The cost of the drugs was deducted from the workers' payslips, Justice Williams said.
While investigators were unable to determine how much of a profit was made, the court was told it was estimated Dwyer made more than $26,000 from the supplies.
His offending was undone after a search warrant was executed on the houseboat and a property in Mooloolaba on November 3, 2022.
Police discovered a computer with an excel spreadsheet on the boat detailing the supplies, and texts on his phone sourcing the meth.
'You did maintain a profit margin table in the spreadsheet, which showed between 15 and 70 per cent profit depending on the quantity supplied,' Justice Williams said.
Another 12.901g of meth and several drug utensils were also seized.
In sentencing Dwyer to 3.5 years' jail - wholly suspended for five years - Justice Williams noted the 'unusual' circumstances of the case and how the 63-year-old possessed the drugs for a 'mixed commercial purpose'.
'The court cannot condone the use of dangerous drugs for self-medication,' she said.
'You were a person of good standing in the community... and found yourself at 60 years of age dealing with a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, and other medical conditions.'
Dwyer was also placed on a probation order for 18 months.
Multiple references in support of Dwyer, in addition to medical reports and a letter of apology, were tendered in Dwyer's defence.
Defence barrister Mark McCarthy KC said there were 'significant' medical issues related to Dwyer's Parkinson's disease that led to his client first engaging with drugs at the time.
The court was told Dwyer eventually became dependent on the drug ice - extending the drugs to his circle of employees.
Mr McCarthy argued a suspended sentence was appropriate for his client given his medical condition and remorse for the offending.
'At 60 years of age, it's extremely unfortunate he (Dwyer) finds himself... in this offending,' he said.
Justice Williams noted Dwyer otherwise had taken significant steps in rehabilitation since the charges were laid.
She said the references painted him as a successful businessman, employing hundreds of staff and making extensive community contributions across the Sunshine Coast.
Dwyer first made headlines in 2019 over the controversial development of a tennis court on top of his Mooloolaba home.
A Current Affair reports the Sunshine Coast Council sent an enforcement notice ordering him to stop the construction, arguing the tennis court fence was above the regulation building height of 8.5 metres.
'They (neighbours) were concerned about the noise of the tennis balls, the grunts from players and the grunts from spectators,' Dwyer told the program.
'I let them know it's not going to be Wimbledon up here .'
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The Intercept
21 minutes ago
- The Intercept
ICE Agent Caught on Camera Disguised as a Construction Worker
Despite their proclivity for wearing masks, the Department of Homeland Security denies that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents refuse to identify themselves in the field. 'I've been on a number of these operations,' Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said last month. 'They are wearing vests that say ICE or ERO, which is the enforcement arm of ICE or Homeland Security Investigations. They clearly verbally identify themselves.' But video from a confrontation in a New York state town that was reviewed by The Intercept contradicts her claims. In the footage, Juan Fonseca Tapia, the co-founder and organizer of the Connecticut-based immigrant advocacy group Greater Danbury Unites for Immigrants, questions a man dressed as a construction worker. 'What agency are you with?' asks Fonseca Tapia, filming through his car window. 'I'm not going to tell you,' responds the man, who is wearing a high-visibility construction vest, an orange helmet and glasses, with a camouflage mask covering most of his face. 'It's none of your business.' The construction worker getup was actually a disguise — ICE confirmed to The Intercept that the man in the hard hat is an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. 'ICE New York City officers were conducting surveillance in Brewster, New York, August 2, when anti-ICE agitators followed them and attempted to disrupt their operation,' an ICE spokesperson told The Intercept by email. In the video – which was posted last weekend on social media by Greater Danbury Area Unites for Immigrants – the ICE agent said only that he is a member of 'federal law enforcement.' Neither 'ICE' nor 'ERO' is visible on his vest in the footage. That puts the lie to McLaughlin's claims that ICE agents identify themselves. Fonseca Tapia told The Intercept that he spotted a second man who was similarly disguised as a construction worker. 'I find it outrageous. It's indefensible. This is where we are crossing a dangerous line on immigration enforcement into these paramilitary type tactics with a secret police force,' said New York State Senator Patricia Fahy who last month introduced the Mandating End of Lawless Tactics (MELT) Act which would ban the use of face coverings and plainclothes by ICE and other federal enforcement agents during civilian immigration actions conducted in New York State. 'The first three words of the provision that we're adding into law are 'Masks and disguises prohibited,' period. And this video is Exhibit A. This is exactly what we are alarmed about.' On Tuesday, at a National Conference of State Legislators in Boston, Fahy joined colleagues from Massachusetts and Pennsylvania in condemning the use of 'paramilitary-type secret police' tactics by ICE agents. 'We started to reach out to all the states that have legislation concerning masked ICE agents and said, 'Let's do this jointly. Let's collectively bring attention to this,'' Fahy told The Intercept. 'We had a couple of dozen lawmakers all standing up to say 'This is not who we are' and calling out these authoritarian-type tactics.' The interaction with the disguised construction worker began when Fonseca Tapia spotted a group of people he believed to be ICE agents in downtown Brewster. He began alerting day laborers who congregate in the area, while driving in his car. Soon, Fonseca Tapia said, realized that he was being followed in a vehicle by the man in the construction worker get-up. Eventually, he found himself surrounded by several vehicles with dark tinted windows. Fonseca Tapia said that the man in the construction worker disguise confronted him and repeatedly tried to persuade him to roll down his window or get out of the car. He said he feared that he might be 'kidnapped' by ICE. After Fonseca Tapia stopped filming, he said that the masked agent issued a warning: 'More of my guys are coming and we're going to take care of you.' To Fonseca Tapia, that sounded like an act of intimidation. 'It's literally a threat,' said Fonseca Tapia. 'You have three vehicles with very tinted windows, so it's impossible to see inside. People are wearing masks and refuse to identify themselves and one of them tells you he is going to call more of them to 'take care of you?' This is for sure an intimidation tactic to instill fear in people who are working to alert the community when there is an ICE presence.' 'It's undermining all of law enforcement because they come across as impersonators.' An ICE spokesperson cited 'increased assaults toward ICE,' as the reason that the ICE agent confronted individuals who followed and filmed them in Brewster. 'The officer was concerned for the safety of himself and others,' the spokesperson wrote. 'I don't know what the concern was — because he was following me,' said Fonseca Tapia. 'If he thought I posed a threat, I don't think he would put himself in danger by following me.' Since President Trump's return to office, masked ICE agents carrying out immigration raids have become increasingly common. Across the country, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies working with ICE, launch operations wearing disguises or plainclothes and sometimes arrive in unmarked vehicles and arrest people without warrants. Often ICE agents don masks, balaclavas, neck gaiters or other facial coverings to conceal their identities. Lawmakers, veteran law enforcement officials, activists, and citizens have criticized the donning of masks by law enforcement as anti-American and for sowing confusion, chaos, and fear, while reducing accountability and undermining public trust. 'The failure of ICE officers and agents to promptly and clearly identify who they are and the authority under which they are acting has led witnesses of immigration enforcement operations to justifiably question the law enforcement status, authority, and constitutionality of ICE officers and agents and their operations,' wrote U.S. Senators Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) in a May letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Tom Homan, the Executive Associate Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations, and top ICE officials. 'We remain deeply concerned that ICE's lack of transparency will lead the public to intercede in enforcement efforts, escalating an already tense interaction, and risking an entirely avoidable violent situation.' Fahy emphasized that she had a family member who served in law enforcement and that she saw the use of masks and disguises as a threat to law and order. 'It's undermining all of law enforcement because they come across as impersonators. There's no accountability and there's no transparency, so it erodes public trust and undermines decades of work and millions of dollars spent,' she told The Intercept. 'When they use disguises, these arrests – without presenting an arrest warrant, neither a judicial or even administrative warrant – come across as abductions or kidnapping. These are third-world tactics, and they should shock the collective conscience.' Read Our Complete Coverage The International Association of Chiefs of Police warns that 'members of the general public may be intimidated or fearful of officers wearing a face covering, which may heighten their defensive reactions.' An ICE spokesperson said the agency has no policy on masks, aside from pandemic safety requirements. The Department of Homeland Security has endorsed the agents' right to wear masks, citing attacks on agents or the doxing of law enforcement or their families. In an email, DHS specifically mentioned one Texas man's threat to shoot ICE agents as a reason to allow masks although it was unclear how a mask would protect an agent from a bullet. Nonetheless, DHS insisted that because of such fears, ICE would not discourage its agents from wearing masks during anti-immigrant raids. For almost two months, DHS has failed to respond to The Intercept's questions about escalating statistics quoted by government officials about supposed assaults of federal agents. In June, DHS told The Intercept that 'ICE law enforcement and their families are being targeted and are facing an over 400% increase in assaults.' ICE now claims that figure has jumped to 830 percent. ICE failed to answer The Intercept's questions about the use of disguises by ICE agents and if the agent who failed to identify himself in Brewster had been reprimanded. 'At no time did the officer attempt to make an arrest or detain anyone without being plainly marked as an ICE officer,' the spokesperson said. The New York City Bar Association has noted that secret police tactics are a gateway to further lawlessness. 'Allowing masked ICE agents to conduct detentions also makes it increasingly likely that third-party actors will impersonate federal agents and use their anonymity to subject vulnerable populations to harassment and violence under the apparent color of law,' the group said in a June statement. Bad actors have, indeed, masqueraded as ICE agents from coast to coast this year. Various people have reportedly impersonated ICE agents to commit or attempt robbery in Pennsylvania, kidnapping in Florida and South Carolina, scams in California, sexual assault in North Carolina, rape in New York, as well as acts of impersonation, intimidation and other offenses in California, Florida, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Washinton State. 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Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
Israel targets and kills Al Jazeera correspondent in Gaza as journalist toll grows
JERUSALEM — Israel's military targeted and killed an Al Jazeera correspondent and others with an airstrike late Sunday in Gaza, after press advocates said an Israeli 'smear campaign' stepped up when Anas al-Sharif cried on air over starvation in the territory. Both Israel and hospital officials in Gaza City confirmed the deaths of al-Sharif and colleagues, which the Committee to Protect Journalists and others described as retribution against those documenting the war in Gaza. Israel's military asserted that al-Sharif had led a Hamas cell — an allegation that Al Jazeera and al-Sharif previously dismissed as baseless. It was the first time during the 22-month war that Israel's military swiftly claimed responsibility after a journalist was killed in a strike. Observers have called this the deadliest conflict for journalists in modern times. Officials at Shifa Hospital said those killed while sheltering outside Gaza City's largest hospital complex also included Al Jazeera correspondent Mohamed Qreiqeh. The strike also killed four other journalists and two other people, hospital administrative director Rami Mohanna told The Associated Press. The strike damaged the entrance to the hospital complex's emergency building. The airstrike came less than a year after Israeli army officials first accused al-Sharif and other Al Jazeera journalists of being members of the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad. In a July 24 video, Israel's army spokesperson Avichay Adraee attacked Al Jazeera and accused al-Sharif of being part of Hamas' military wing. Al Jazeera called the strike a 'targeted assassination' and accused Israeli officials of incitement, connecting al-Sharif's death to the allegations that both the network and correspondent had denied. 'Anas and his colleagues were among the last remaining voices from within Gaza, providing the world with unfiltered, on-the-ground coverage of the devastating realities endured by its people,' the Qatari network said in a statement. Apart from rare invitations to observe Israeli military operations, international media have been barred from entering Gaza for the duration of the war. Al Jazeera is among the few outlets still fielding a big team of reporters inside the besieged strip, chronicling daily life amid airstrikes, hunger and the rubble of destroyed neighborhoods. Al Jazeera is blocked in Israel and soldiers raided its offices in the occupied West Bank last year, ordering them closed. The network has suffered heavy losses during the war, including 27-year-old correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul and cameraman Rami al-Rifi, killed last summer, and freelancer Hossam Shabat, killed in an Israeli airstrike in March. Like al-Sharif, Shabat was among the six that Israel accused of being members of militant groups last October. Al-Sharif's death comes weeks after a U.N. expert and the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said Israel had targeted him with a smear campaign. Irene Khan, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, on July 31 said that the killings were 'part of a deliberate strategy of Israel to suppress the truth, obstruct the documentation of international crimes and bury any possibility of future accountability.' The U.N. human rights office on Monday condemned Sunday's airstrike targeting the journalists' tent 'in grave breach of international humanitarian law.' The Committee to Protect Journalists said on Sunday that at least 186 journalists have been killed in Gaza, and Brown University's Watson Institute in April said the war was 'quite simply, the worst ever conflict for reporters.' Al-Sharif reported a nearby bombardment minutes before his death. In a social media post that Al Jazeera said was written to be posted in case of his death, he bemoaned the devastation and destruction that war had wrought and bid farewell to his wife, son and daughter. 'I never hesitated for a single day to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification,' the 28-year-old wrote. Hundreds of people, including many journalists, gathered Monday to mourn al-Sharif, Qreiqeh and their colleagues. The bodies lay wrapped in white sheets at the Shifa Hospital complex. Ahed Ferwana of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said reporters were being deliberately targeted and urged the international community to act. Al-Sharif began reporting for Al Jazeera a few days after war broke out. He was known for reporting on Israel's bombardment in northern Gaza, and later for the starvation gripping much of the territory's population. In a July broadcast, al-Sharif cried on air as a woman behind him collapsed from hunger. 'I am talking about slow death of those people,' he said at the time. Qreiqeh, a 33-year-old Gaza City native, is survived by two children. Both journalists were separated from their families for months earlier in the war. When they managed to reunite during the ceasefire earlier this year, their children appeared unable to recognize them, according to video footage they posted at the time. The Committee to Protect Journalists said Sunday it was appalled by the airstrike. 'Israel's pattern of labeling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom,' Sara Qudah, the group's regional director, said in a statement. Metz and Magdy write for the Associated Press. Magdy reported from Cairo.
Fox News
an hour ago
- Fox News
Israel says Al Jazeera journalist killed in airstrike was head of Hamas 'terrorist cell'
An Al Jazeera journalist who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip was the leader of a Hamas "terrorist cell," the Israel Defense Forces announced. Anas Al-Sharif and four of his colleagues – identified by Al Jazeera as correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa – died Sunday in what the Qatari-based network called a "targeted Israeli attack" on a tent housing journalists in Gaza City. "The IDF struck the terrorist Anas Al-Sharif, who posed as a journalist for the Al Jazeera network," the Israeli military said in a statement. "Anas Al-Sharif served as the head of a terrorist cell in the Hamas terrorist organization and was responsible for advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops. The IDF also said it "previously disclosed intelligence information and many documents found in the Gaza Strip" confirming Al-Sharif's military affiliation with Hamas, from which "the Al Jazeera network has attempted to disassociate itself." "A press badge isn't a shield for terrorism," the IDF wrote on X. Al Jazeera and Al-Sharif previously rejected claims of his affiliation with Hamas, according to Reuters. "Al Jazeera Media Network condemns in the strongest terms the targeted assassination of its correspondents Anas Al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh ... by the Israeli occupation forces in yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom," the network said. "Anas and his colleagues were among the last remaining voices from within Gaza, providing the world with unfiltered, on-the-ground coverage of the devastating realities endured by its people. While international media was barred from entering, Al Jazeera journalists remained within besieged Gaza, experiencing the hunger and suffering they documented through their lenses," it added. The U.N. Human Rights Office also wrote on X that it condemned the killings and called for "immediate, safe and unhindered access to Gaza for all journalists." The IDF said the documents it found in the Gaza Strip "include personnel rosters, lists of terrorist training courses, phone directories, and salary documents for the terrorist, and provide unequivocal proof that [Al-Sharif] serves as a military terrorist in Hamas in the Gaza Strip. "
