Latest news with #AngloCoal
ABC News
7 days ago
- ABC News
Erin Patterson found guilty of murdering three guests with deadly mushroom lunch
On today's program: The jury has reached a verdict in Erin Patterson's murder trial, finding her guilty of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. Patterson had pleaded not guilty to murdering three relatives and attempting to murder another by serving them Beef Wellingtons containing death cap mushrooms during a lunch at her home at Leongatha in regional Victoria in July 2023. Patterson's parents-in-law Don and Gail Patterson both died after the lunch, along with Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson. Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson survived after spending weeks in hospital. The trial was held in the Latrobe Valley Law Courts in the regional Victorian town of Morwell. Reporter: Jarrod Whittaker (Sale) Northern Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage has delivered her findings in a long-running inquest into the fatal police shooting of 19-year-old Warlpiri-Luritja man Kumanjayi Walker during an arrest in Yuendumu in 2019. Judge Armitage found former constable Zachary Rolfe, who fired the fatal shots, "was racist", and that she could not exclude the possibility that those attitudes "were a contributing cause of Kumanjayi's death". The NT Police Force says it will "carefully consider" Judge Armitage's 32 recommendations and more than 600 pages of Carly Williams in Yuendumu A former underground miner is suing Anglo Coal for more than $1 million in damages following separate explosions at Grosvenor Coal Mine. The 35-year-old is suffering post-traumatic stress disorder from multiple incidents. Anglo American says the health, safety and wellbeing of workers is top priority and it is committed to ensuring a safe working environment. Reporter: Ellie Will cox (Rockhampton) Gunlom Falls, one of Kakadu National Park's most popular sites, reopened today, giving visitors access for the first time in six years. The waterfall was closed in 2019 due to a dispute between traditional owners and Parks Australia over damage to a sacred Aboriginal men's site. Reporter: James Elton (Katherine)
ABC News
06-07-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Underground miner who escaped explosion which severely burnt colleagues sues Anglo Coal
A former underground coal miner who escaped a major explosion and watched his colleagues emerge severely burnt is suing Anglo Coal for more than $1 million in damages. Ryan Martin was working as a supervisor at Grosvenor Coal Mine near Moranbah in central Queensland in May 2020 when an underground methane gas explosion seriously injured five workers. The 35-year-old has filed a claim for compensation in the Supreme Court in Rockhampton against the mine's operator, Anglo Coal, for his suffering of post-traumatic stress disorder after two separate blasts at the same mine in four years. Mr Martin was also working underground when an evacuation was ordered due to a "shock wave" incident a month after the initial blast. During the first explosion he saw his colleagues with melted helmets screaming in pain and helped by filling up bottles of water to pour over them. He said it was "extremely confronting" and "ingrained" in his head. "I've never seen burns that severe before … to the point of nearly a full body burn," Mr Martin said. "Their face was not their face anymore. Hands, back, chest, the whole lot. An inquiry into the incident found the mine's gas drainage systems could not cope with the rate of production and coal mine workers were repeatedly subject to an unacceptable level of risk. Mr Martin alleges management pressured him to go back to work underground in the following weeks until another evacuation was ordered a month later when a shock wave went through the pit. Following a second explosion at the same mine last year Mr Martin decided to leave the industry permanently. He was on shift at the time but not underground. "That was definitely the straw that broke the camel's back in aiding my decision to end up pulling the pin from the mining industry," he said. "It's not that I don't want to, I don't think I can." Mr Martin said he had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, severe depression, anxiety, and has regular appointments with a psychiatrist and psychologist. "It's been tough. The nightmares were at the start. My sleep, it's basically non-existent now," he said. Mr Martin's lawyer Paul Zapata said Anglo should have learnt from its mistakes in 2020 and described the latest explosion as "gobsmacking". "Predominantly [the claim] is about his income loss in the future. He's going to have to try and now reinvent himself. "Underground mining is very dangerous and the safety of workers should be paramount." Mr Martin has worked at mines in the Bowen Basin since he was 18 and is now pursuing certifications to work on civil construction sites. In a statement, a spokesperson for Anglo American said the company was unable to comment on individual cases due to legal and privacy considerations. "The health, safety and wellbeing of workers is always top priority," they said. "We take that responsibility seriously and we are committed to ensuring a safe and supportive working environment for our people."
ABC News
01-07-2025
- ABC News
Anglo Coal conviction 'set aside' after 2019 death of miner Bradley Hardwick
Queensland's Industrial Court has set aside the 2023 conviction of mining giant Anglo Coal after the death of a worker at its Moranbah North mine in Central Queensland. Bradley Alistair Hardwick, 47, was operating a grader at the coal mine on February 20, 2019, when a braking system failed, causing the vehicle to roll backwards and crash into a drift runner carrying several people. Anglo Coal had pleaded not guilty to one charge of failing to discharge its health and safety obligations. In 2023, Industrial Magistrate Michael Quinn determined that Anglo Coal was not guilty of causing Mr Hardwick's death. However, he did find that the mine had breached Queensland's Coal Mining and Safety Act for a failure to "discharge safety obligations" and that it had caused "bodily harm" to the miners in the drift runner. Anglo Coal appealed the decision in the Industrial Court, arguing Magistrate Quinn should have considered the mine operator's "interaction" with the grader's manufacturer, and the fact that it carried out tests on the machine's brakes as specified by the manufacturer. Industrial Court president Justice Peter David handed down his findings on June 27 and rejected that point of appeal, and found it was unnecessary to consider Anglo's second ground of appeal. Instead, he made orders to have the conviction set aside, but not acquitted. Justice David said conclusions drawn by the Industrial Magistrate were "against the backdrop of a misunderstanding" of the safety legislation. He found the "real issue" was whether the brake failure was due to "causes over which [Anglo Coal] had no control", which the mining giant originally argued in 2023. In his directions handed down last week, he invited both parties to make submissions on "what further orders ought to be made" and whether the "real issue" could be determined based on the 2023 trial. Anglo Coal has until July 25 to make a submission.
