Latest news with #Lanyon
Sydney Morning Herald
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
The toxic web that toppled NSW's first female police commissioner
For most of her 3½ years as NSW Police Commissioner, Karen Webb hasn't felt safe in the job. There was always a fear that haters, as she once put it in an ill-judged reference to Taylor Swift, were leaking against her, that powerful sections of the media wanted her gone, and that the criticism of her weak public performances dented her support among the troops. Recently, that feeling must have ramped up. There has been speculation swirling for months that the premier's office has been distancing itself from her, and that Webb had lost the support of the powerful, Labor-aligned NSW Police Association (the association did not comment). A story that appeared in The Daily Telegraph in January, saying she was considering early retirement, is said to have taken Webb by surprise. At least she now has some certainty. On Wednesday, Webb announced her resignation. The government insists the decision was Webb's. The premature sacking of the first female police commissioner would be, as its media advisers would say, bad optics. And there was a time when senior people in the government quietly described the attacks on Webb as sexist. But several police sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity so they could talk freely, say that in the end, she was explicitly encouraged to go. The timing was highly unusual; commissioners, even unpopular or unhappy ones, usually see out their tenure. When asked by this masthead in March if she planned to leave early, Webb said she had more work to do. No police boss has left so prematurely since the passing of the Police Act of 1990, which set their incumbency at five years. Before Webb, the shortest-serving commissioner in the past 40 years was Mick Fuller, who was only two months shy of a full term. The strongest contender for the job is Mal Lanyon, a deputy commissioner who has been on secondment to the NSW Reconstruction Authority since April last year. Lanyon has long been touted as a rival for the commissioner's job. He was in the final three candidates when Webb was selected in late 2021 but was ruled out, sources close to the process say, amid concerns about the optics, again, of an incident in which he was found drunk in Goulburn earlier that year while visiting the academy for an attestation, and allegedly swore at paramedics. Lanyon still has strong support from some parts of the NSW Police Force and sections of the media. Webb's backers have been worried about his influence. His move to the authority was interpreted as an attempt to give her clear air, amid persistent criticism about her performance – particularly in relation to her timidity in front of cameras – and constant scuttlebutt about whether Lanyon should replace her.
The Age
07-05-2025
- Politics
- The Age
The toxic web that toppled NSW's first female police commissioner
For most of her 3½ years as NSW Police Commissioner, Karen Webb hasn't felt safe in the job. There was always a fear that haters, as she once put it in an ill-judged reference to Taylor Swift, were leaking against her, that powerful sections of the media wanted her gone, and that the criticism of her weak public performances dented her support among the troops. Recently, that feeling must have ramped up. There has been speculation swirling for months that the premier's office has been distancing itself from her, and that Webb had lost the support of the powerful, Labor-aligned NSW Police Association (the association did not comment). A story that appeared in The Daily Telegraph in January, saying she was considering early retirement, is said to have taken Webb by surprise. At least she now has some certainty. On Wednesday, Webb announced her resignation. The government insists the decision was Webb's. The premature sacking of the first female police commissioner would be, as its media advisers would say, bad optics. And there was a time when senior people in the government quietly described the attacks on Webb as sexist. But several police sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity so they could talk freely, say that in the end, she was explicitly encouraged to go. The timing was highly unusual; commissioners, even unpopular or unhappy ones, usually see out their tenure. When asked by this masthead in March if she planned to leave early, Webb said she had more work to do. No police boss has left so prematurely since the passing of the Police Act of 1990, which set their incumbency at five years. Before Webb, the shortest-serving commissioner in the past 40 years was Mick Fuller, who was only two months shy of a full term. The strongest contender for the job is Mal Lanyon, a deputy commissioner who has been on secondment to the NSW Reconstruction Authority since April last year. Lanyon has long been touted as a rival for the commissioner's job. He was in the final three candidates when Webb was selected in late 2021 but was ruled out, sources close to the process say, amid concerns about the optics, again, of an incident in which he was found drunk in Goulburn earlier that year while visiting the academy for an attestation, and allegedly swore at paramedics. Lanyon still has strong support from some parts of the NSW Police Force and sections of the media. Webb's backers have been worried about his influence. His move to the authority was interpreted as an attempt to give her clear air, amid persistent criticism about her performance – particularly in relation to her timidity in front of cameras – and constant scuttlebutt about whether Lanyon should replace her.
BBC News
27-03-2025
- General
- BBC News
Sark toy panda stabbed during German occupation to go on display
A toy panda that was stabbed by German soldiers in Sark in World War Two, will be part of an exhibition marking the 80th anniversary of the islands' liberation from Le Page has been telling BBC Radio Guernsey how her toy was damaged by the SS as a was three when her home island of Sark was occupied by German forces during World War remembers: "The SS searched the house with fixed bayonets and pointed their guns at us and it was really very scary." The search was due to suspicions about her father's involvement in the Guernsey Underground News Service (GUNS) which shared secret newsletters with Le Page said: "They pulled out the wicker basket under the bed and put their bayonet through it and it went right through my panda's face, which was quite upsetting." Mrs Le Page's father was Hubert Lanyon, the island all radios were confiscated by the occupying forces, Mrs Le Page said "a group of really brave Guernsey men decided they would produce a leaflet so people could have the news."She said her father volunteered to distribute it in Sark: "I remember him collecting a lot of old books and putting numbers on the back. "Apparently when anyone came in wanting to read this news sheet he would tell them which number book it was in and they would read it and put it back." 'Searched the family home' Mrs Le Page said that a man in trouble with the German forces thought he might get a lesser sentence by naming some of the people involved in GUNS."He told them all the names and of course my father was on the list."She said the SS visited Sark, questioned Mr Lanyon and searched the family Le Page remembers: "We were all standing on the doorstep and I remember him looking at us. "I suppose he was wondering if he would ever see us again".After Mr Lanyon was taken, it was a month before the family heard what had happened to Le Page's grandfather had received special permission to go to Sark to help bake the island's bread. 'New exhibition' He was was able to tell the family that Mr Lanyon had been sentenced to six months in mother appealed to the German commandant which Mrs Le Page said resulted in his sentence being cut down to five months' hard Le Page shared her story as part of the Island Memories Project run by BBC Radio Guernsey and Guernsey Le Page's toy panda will go on display at Guernsey Museum at Candie as part of a new exhibition opening on 28 March, to mark the 80th anniversary in May of the islands' liberation from German occupation.
