Latest news with #BrisbaneMagistratesCourt
The Age
29-05-2025
- Politics
- The Age
‘Budget Bjelke-Petersen': Organiser lashes lord mayor as court blocks Story Bridge protest
A protest organiser has labelled Brisbane's lord mayor 'budget Bjelke-Petersen' after a protest that would have shut down all six traffic lanes on the Story Bridge during peak hour was blocked by a court ruling. Protesters had lodged a notice of intention of the protest on May 20, making it an authorised action under the Peaceful Assembly Act, for a one-hour walk across the bridge on Friday from 8am to draw attention to their calls for Brisbane City Council to allocate one car lane to pedestrian, cyclist and scooter traffic while the footpaths were repaired. The Story Bridge footpaths – used by about 4000 walkers, bike and scooter riders daily – were closed on March 5, with reports later revealing parts of the bridge were an 'extreme risk' to the public, while council has called for cash from the state and federal governments to restore it. Mediation efforts last week failed, and police took the matter to Brisbane Magistrates Court, with the support of the council. Prosecutor Acting Senior Sergeant Donna Kay said closing the bridge during peak hour would cause 'mass disruption'. In making his ruling, magistrate Ross Mack pointed to disruptions for thousands of commuters if the protest went ahead. Kathryn Good, who lodged notice of the protest and was self-represented, told the court she understood the protest would cause disruption, but pointed to numerous other times the Story Bridge was shut, including for seven hours this Sunday for the Brisbane Marathon. Mack asked a Brisbane City Council solicitor when the footpaths would be reopened, and he replied: 'I don't have those instructions'. A business case for the full bridge restoration is not due until 2027, but the council plans to work on a temporary footpath replacement first.
Sydney Morning Herald
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Budget Bjelke-Petersen': Organiser lashes lord mayor as court blocks Story Bridge protest
A protest organiser has labelled Brisbane's lord mayor 'budget Bjelke-Petersen' after a protest that would have shut down all six traffic lanes on the Story Bridge during peak hour was blocked by a court ruling. Protesters had lodged a notice of intention of the protest on May 20, making it an authorised action under the Peaceful Assembly Act, for a one-hour walk across the bridge on Friday from 8am to draw attention to their calls for Brisbane City Council to allocate one car lane to pedestrian, cyclist and scooter traffic while the footpaths were repaired. The Story Bridge footpaths – used by about 4000 walkers, bike and scooter riders daily – were closed on March 5, with reports later revealing parts of the bridge were an 'extreme risk' to the public, while council has called for cash from the state and federal governments to restore it. Mediation efforts last week failed, and police took the matter to Brisbane Magistrates Court, with the support of the council. Prosecutor Acting Senior Sergeant Donna Kay said closing the bridge during peak hour would cause 'mass disruption'. In making his ruling, magistrate Ross Mack pointed to disruptions for thousands of commuters if the protest went ahead. Kathryn Good, who lodged notice of the protest and was self-represented, told the court she understood the protest would cause disruption, but pointed to numerous other times the Story Bridge was shut, including for seven hours this Sunday for the Brisbane Marathon. Mack asked a Brisbane City Council solicitor when the footpaths would be reopened, and he replied: 'I don't have those instructions'. A business case for the full bridge restoration is not due until 2027, but the council plans to work on a temporary footpath replacement first.
ABC News
16-05-2025
- ABC News
Mother charged with murder of three children after deadly Toowoomba house fire has matter heard in court
A woman charged with the murder of her three children after a deadly house fire in Toowoomba has had her matter heard in court, with a full brief of evidence expected in the coming months. Ellouisa Patricia Brighton, 36, was charged with three counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and one count of arson on Tuesday. She remains in hospital after the fire in Harristown last week, which claimed the life of her nine-year-old son. Her two daughters, aged four and seven, later died in hospital. A 34-year-old man, an 18-year-old man and an 11-year-old boy who escaped from the fire have since been released from hospital. Ms Brighton's matter was heard in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday. Magistrate Peter Saggers said a full brief of evidence would be due on July 21. The matter will next be heard in Toowoomba on August 19.
News.com.au
04-05-2025
- News.com.au
Bombshell update after woman drowned while kayaking at popular lake
A man has been charged with murder and fraud after a woman fell into water and drowned on a kayak trip on a popular lake north of Brisbane four years ago. On November 27, 2020, a 55-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman were kayaking on Lake Samsonvale near Forgan Cove in the Moreton Bay region when the woman reportedly fell into the water and drowned. Witnesses and emergency performances tried to revive the woman with CPR but she could not be saved and was declared deceased at the scene. Initially thought to be an accidental drowning, further inquiries led police and detectives to suspect the woman's death was suspicious. Establishing Operation Victor Harlow, officers completed a 'complex' investigation into the circumstances surrounding the woman's death, including the conditions of the lake when the pair were kayaking and information from witnesses. Police arrested the 55-year-old man on Sunday May 4 while he was visiting Brisbane from his home in Thailand. He was charged with one count of murder (domestic violence), fraud and attempted fraud. Police will allege the man was involved in the death of the 54-year-old woman. Queensland Police Acting Inspector Steve Windsor said the authorities left no stone unturned while investigating the woman's death. 'Incidents are not always what they initially seem, so I thank the detectives for their diligent work in this lengthy and arduous investigation,' he said. 'Through their tenacious work, we have justice for the woman who tragically died that day as well as her family.' He urged anyone who sees something suspicious to report it to police, 'even if they seem insignificant', as it 'may be an important piece to the puzzle in an investigation'. 'Police will always investigate serious matters thoroughly, no matter how long they may take,' he said. The 54-year-old man was refused bail ad is set to appear before Brisbane Magistrates Court on May 5.
ABC News
29-04-2025
- ABC News
Accused Griffith university hacker flew to New Zealand with passport in another name, court documents allege
A man wanted over a hack on a Queensland university in 2013 left the country using a different identity after police raided his house, New Zealand court documents allege. They show the man, then known as Adam Alachi, allegedly used multiples aliases to travel between Australia and New Zealand while a warrant was out for his arrest. Nearly a decade after his family home on the Gold Coast was raided by Queensland police, his younger brother Husssein I'lachi was wrongly charged over the incident as Adam Alachi. Hussein I'lachi would have been 12 years old at the time of the hack. Hussein I'lachi was arrested on February 17, 2023. ( ABC News: Michael Lloyd ) A hack on the Gold Coast Hussein I'lachi was charged in February 2023 for allegedly stealing the login details of more than 100 Griffith University staff and students in 2013. He faced the Brisbane Magistrates Court four times under his brother's name before the charges were dropped. It was alleged Adam Alachi, his older brother by nine years, stole the details from lecture room laptops by installing software that recorded keystrokes to capture usernames and passwords. The login details of Griffith University staff and students were stolen in the 2013 hack. ( ABC News: Julius Dennis ) In a raid on on his Upper Coomera home in October 2013 police seized multiple computers, hard drives and mobile phones allegedly belonging to Adam Alachi, a pharmacological science student at the university. A warrant for his arrest was issued on December 30, 2013, but no arrests were made until his younger brother was arrested in 2023. Police alleged Mr Alachi made admissions to hacking the university on a phone they seized. ( ABC News: Michael Lloyd ) Queensland police never admitted they had the wrong man but dropped the charges due to a "catastrophic hard disk drive failure" where the evidence was lost. A trial in New Zealand New Zealand court documents alleged Mr Alachi was able to use passports in three separate names between 2013 and 2016. Documents from a 2018 trial at the Auckland District Court alleged Mr Alachi flew from Australia to New Zealand using a NZ passport less than a month after police raided his home. The name on the passport was allegedly Adam Elache. Photo shows A pair of hands typing on a laptop. A red Griffith sign in the background. A man was incorrectly charged under his brother's name over a decade old hack on Griffith University despite Australian authorities being told the accused man was in New Zealand. In 2017, New Zealand police accused him of driving more than double the speed limit in a borrowed Nissan Skyline while his licence was suspended. Prosecutors said Mr Alachi used a Canadian driver's licence in the name Adem Oshnaveh to get a New Zealand licence in 2014, just months after arriving in New Zealand. Adem Onshaveh is the name he appeared under in the New Zealand trial, but it is unclear why he had a Canadian licence. Mr Alachi was arrested in 2016 in Auckland under the name Adem Onshaveh. ( ABC News: Luke Bowden ) The arresting officer told the court that Mr Alachi said his name was Adam Isaac and did not provide a licence. This name — one of many the ABC found in unrelated court documents — appears to be Mr Alachi's birth name. According to documents from a separate case in Australia, Mr Alachi was born Adam Isaac in Canberra in 1992. In Auckland District Court, Adam Alachi's lawyer argued it was a "case of mistaken identity", and his client had never lived in New Zealand. Mr Alachi claimed the arresting officer was "racially vilifying" him. He told the court NZ police had taken his Australian driver's licence and passport, both in the name Adam Isaac. "I'm basically imprisoned in New Zealand, which is where I've not resided. I've lived in Australia my whole life," he told the court. A document filed in the Auckland District Court from Immigration New Zealand (INZ) alleged Adam Alachi had been in and out of the country — under different names — for most of his life. INZ alleged Mr Alachi first travelled to New Zealand as a three-year-old in 1995 on his Australian passport in the name Adam Isaac. But just five years later, an application for a New Zealand "indefinite returning visa" for the then-eight-year-old was made using a Lebanese passport in the name Adam Adnan Elache, it alleged. The court documents allege Mr Alachi was able to gain passports from Australia and New Zealand. ( ABC News: Michael Lloyd ) A New Zealand citizenship application was made for Adam Elache two years later, and he flew to Brisbane in 2007 under that name, the document said. It was alleged the next time he used the passport was to re-enter New Zealand in November 2013, less than a month after Queensland police searched his home. INZ said he then obtained a New Zealand passport in the name Adem Oshnaveh and allegedly used it to fly from New Zealand to Australia in February 2014. He allegedly last used that passport to fly to Australia in 2016. At the time there was an active warrant for his arrest over the Griffith University hack. When he next returned to New Zealand he used an Australian passport in the name Adam Isaac, the document alleged. Information presented by INZ to the Auckland District Court during Adem Oshnaveh's trial alleging he had multiple identities. ( ABC News: Lisa Batty ) Do you know more? Contact Julius Dennis at Australian authorities aware The ABC has previously reported that documents from an unrelated case in Brisbane allege Adam Alachi was Immigration New Zealand (INZ) brought this to the attention of the Australian Border Force (ABF), which then alerted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), who "conducted checks into the individual". Prosecutors in the Brisbane case have listed Adam Alachi and Adam Isaac as known aliases of the man found in New Zealand, but that link does not appear to have been made when his presence was brought to the attention of the ABF and DFAT. Six years later, Queensland police arrested his younger brother Hussein I'lachi for the hack. The ABC understands there has not been an AFP investigation into Mr Alachi, and the Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions said they had not prosecuted the individual involved. Hussein I'lachi was arrested at the Carina Police Station in 2023. ( ABC News: Michael Lloyd ) Prior to the charges being dropped, Hussein I'lachi contacted the ABC Last month the ABC asked QPS whether they were informed about Adam Alachi allegedly being found in New Zealand with multiple passports. They said they do not comment on "historical evidence or investigations conducted in other jurisdictions". When asked about allegations Mr Alachi may have re-entered the country while a warrant for his arrest was active, a QPS spokesperson said they had nothing further to add. DFAT would not provide a comment on the situation. The ABF were contacted but did not respond before deadline. Mr Alachi's New Zealand lawyer was contacted for this story but did not reply.
