Latest news with #Magistrates'Court
ABC News
4 hours ago
- Business
- ABC News
Farmers face fines for blocking access during transmission line projects under plan
Farmers are vowing to stop transmission line builders from using their land, despite the threat of large fines and clashes with police. The Victorian government plans to change legislation around land access for transmission project construction, which would introduce new penalties and give authorities the ability to use force if needed. The proposed amendments to the National Electricity Bill are expected to be debated in state parliament this week. The law change would facilitate the design and construction of new transmission projects like VNI West and the Western Renewables Link (WRL), which are key parts of the government's renewable energy transition. The projects have faced huge opposition from landowners and sparked numerous protests. Claire Grant farms with her partner Tim at Glenloth East, between Kerang and St Arnaud. VNI West, a high-voltage transmission line planned to run from New South Wales to Bulgana, would cut directly through their farm. Compensation is on offer for landowners who have towers and infrastructure built on their property, but Ms Grant said no amount of money would buy their support. "[The government] just doesn't understand that money can't win us over," Ms Grant said. Under the new legislation, Ms Grant could be fined $12,000 for refusing access to builders. Authorised workers would also be able to use reasonable force to get onto her property, with the backing of police. But Ms Grant said none of that mattered to her. "We don't want them on our land. We will have our tractors [at the front gate]. We will have our dozer there. We will have whatever we need to block them from entering our land," she said. Beck Legal property and development director Josh Ennis said there would be very few circumstances where an access order would not be granted by a court, under the legislation change. "You would be looking at safety concerns or biosecurity concerns," Mr Ennis said. Mr Ennis advises farmers about the legal implications of the VNI West project, and said authorities already had access rights for surveys, but there were no enforcement provisions in the existing laws. "The bill before parliament takes it a step further in that it introduces the concept of authorised officers," he said. "Those officers have the ability to issue on-the-spot fines if people obstruct them, and they also have the power to get an order from a Magistrates' Court. "Once they have that, they've got the right to use reasonable force and attend with Victoria Police." Ms Grant said she was opposed to VNI West for a long list of reasons, including a potential loss of land value, restricted use of machinery, fire risk and aerial spraying limitations. The couple recently built a new house that would look out on the transmission line. "We're going to have a lovely view of VNI West out our window," Ms Grant said. "We probably wouldn't have built the house if we knew this would happen. The Victorian opposition has repeatedly said it would seek to repeal the legislation if it wins the next election in 2026. The coalition's energy spokesperson David Davis described it as "sharp, harsh legislation" and "significant government overreach". "The government should not have brought in this bill that has a very authoritarian tone to it and a dramatic escalation in penalties and control," he said. "The government already has very significant powers to build infrastructure." VicGrid chief executive Alistair Parker told the Victorian Country Hour that voluntary access agreements were his top priority. "Our position is that we should be seeking voluntary access from people, we should be negotiating with them, we should be understanding their biosecurity concerns, we should be honouring those," he said. "Our really strong message to transmission companies is 'get voluntary agreements'. VicGrid is responsible for planning and developing the new infrastructure and Mr Parker said he believed voluntary access would be secured with all but "one or two people" in the path of VNI West. VNI West developer Transmission Company Victoria (TCV) declined to be interviewed, but in a statement, a spokesperson said it was "committed to voluntary agreements" and "working with landholders". Energy Minister Lily D'Ambrosio was also contacted for comment but was unavailable for an interview.
North Wales Chronicle
6 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Lorry deaths people smuggler gets extra jail time for not paying compensation
Ronan Hughes was jailed for 20 years in 2021 for the manslaughter of the Vietnamese nationals, aged between 15 and 44, found in a vehicle in Essex on October 22 2019. The victims died in sweltering conditions as they were transported in an airtight container from Zeebrugge in Belgium to Purfleet. Hughes, 45, of Armagh, Northern Ireland, was taken back to court in 2024 and ordered to pay more than £182,000 in compensation to the families of victims. He has paid £58,380 towards the confiscation order, but as of Tuesday – and including the interest accrued – he still owed more than £127,000. The CPS Proceeds of Crime Division invited a court to impose an additional sentence on Hughes in light of his failure to pay the confiscation order. He appeared before Folkstone Magistrates' Court for an enforcement hearing on Tuesday and the judge ordered that he serve an additional year and four months in prison, the CPS said. Heather Chalk, specialist prosecutor for the CPS, said: 'Ronan Hughes led an unscrupulous network of organised criminals that sought to profit from smuggling desperate people. 'It is devastating that 39 vulnerable people lost their lives because of their greed and recklessness. 'The CPS is committed to working with law enforcement to dismantle these smuggling networks and prevent them from profiting from their criminality. 'Hughes failed to pay back his confiscation order in full and, as a result, he will be serving additional time in jail.' In addition to Hughes, four other men were jailed for between 13 and 27 years for the manslaughter of the men, women and children. They are: Romanian mechanic Gheorghe Nica, 48; Romanian Marius Mihai Draghici, 52, who was described as Nica's 'second-in-command'; lorry driver Maurice Robinson, 30, of Craigavon, who found the bodies; and Eamonn Harrison, 28, of Co Down, who had collected the victims on the continent. To date, more than £283,000 in ill-gotten gains has been ordered to be paid by defendants as compensation to the victims' families.
South Wales Argus
7 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
Abergavenny councillor Kyle Eldridge cleared of harassment
Kyle Edridge, who was elected as a Labour councillor, was accused of sending unwanted messages via email and social media to the girl he described as his 'little sister' and who he first met when she was 14. Following a three hour trial, at a Newport Magistrates' Court, a judge said there had been a lack of evidence and returned a not guilty verdict to the one charge of harassment without violence. Judge Sophie Toms however told 28-year-old Eldridge: 'This sort of relationship, a lot of social media calls and multiple messages, with someone younger when you were well into your 20s is inappropriate. Do you understand?' Mr Eldridge replied: 'Yes I do'. Judge Toms also said she had listened to around 12 minutes of voice notes the councillor had sent the girl in March last year, when she was 17, after she had ended their friendship and called them 'manipulative'. In one message the Abergavenny town councillor said he had been 'heartbroken' over their friendship ending and thinking about it while meeting Labour MPs and had to cry at a conference of school governors. He had told the trial he had become 'confused' over their friendship after what he described as a 'malicious joke' played by the girl, which he said due to his autism and obsessive compulsive disorder he had taken 'literally', and felt he should report as a 'safeguarding' concern. Prosecutor Robert Reid had told the court the girl, who cannot be named due to her age at the time, had said Mr Eldridge intended making a report to social services that she had been raped by a friend of hers. She said she didn't understand why he had made the allegation and said she didn't know the male, who had been accused, particularly well. Giving evidence Mr Eldridge denied making a report to social services but said he had taken advice on a 'safeguarding concern'. He said he had been concerned the girl had been taken to a pub by men, aged 29 and 32, at night. In the voice note sent to the girl, after she had unblocked him on Instagram to send a message to say she didn't want to continue their friendship but wouldn't ignore him if she saw him in public, Mr Eldridge said he was 'really sorry' to receive the message. In the recording, played in court, Mr Eldridge said: 'I'm genuinely broken-hearted and I can't express how much I'm sorry for the deep emotional trauma I put you through.' He also said: 'In church I light a candle for you and when I was at a conference for school governors from all over Wales I took five minutes and burst into tears. Tonight at a meeting with Labour Party members and MPs I just wanted to go to the toilets and have a big cry.' Judge Ms Toms said a handwritten note left for the teenager, at her workplace, and incidents when he'd approached her there, when she was with friends, and at a supermarket with her mother, weren't reflected in the charge, which referenced Instagram messages, voice notes and emails. She complained she was 'missing all of the evidence' of contact between Mr Eldridge and the girl before January last year and there was no evidence from the complainant's mother who'd also been mentioned by the prosecution and Mr Eldridge in his defence. In delivering her verdict Judge Toms stated she had considered a psychological report, which said Mr Eldridge should be considered as having a disability, and had taken his characteristics into account. But said she couldn't be sure he would know his conduct in leaving 'one extremely rambling voice message' and another message, the girl hadn't listened, to amounted to harassment. She also she believed the unwanted contact 'could have been resolved by the way of a Police Information Notice' but said she understood Gwent Police no longer issue the notices which inform someone a named individual no longer wished to be contacted by them. A prosecution request for a non-conviction restraining order, to prevent further contact, was also rejected by Judge Toms who said Mr Eldridge hadn't contacted the girl since April 2024. His defence solicitor Derek Gooden said police had warned him against contact, when he was arrested in September last year, and said: 'He has seen her but he now crosses the road.' Judge Toms said: 'That must continue unless Mr Eldridge wishes to find himself before the court.' Mr Eldridge was elected as a Labour member of Abergavenny Town Council, for the Park Ward, at the 2022 local elections but has sat as an independent since being suspended from the Labour group. He declined to comment when leaving court.
South Wales Guardian
9 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Lorry deaths people smuggler gets extra jail time for not paying compensation
Ronan Hughes was jailed for 20 years in 2021 for the manslaughter of the Vietnamese nationals, aged between 15 and 44, found in a vehicle in Essex on October 22 2019. The victims died in sweltering conditions as they were transported in an airtight container from Zeebrugge in Belgium to Purfleet. Hughes, 45, of Armagh, Northern Ireland, was taken back to court in 2024 and ordered to pay more than £182,000 in compensation to the families of victims. He has paid £58,380 towards the confiscation order, but as of Tuesday – and including the interest accrued – he still owed more than £127,000. The CPS Proceeds of Crime Division invited a court to impose an additional sentence on Hughes in light of his failure to pay the confiscation order. He appeared before Folkstone Magistrates' Court for an enforcement hearing on Tuesday and the judge ordered that he serve an additional year and four months in prison, the CPS said. Heather Chalk, specialist prosecutor for the CPS, said: 'Ronan Hughes led an unscrupulous network of organised criminals that sought to profit from smuggling desperate people. 'It is devastating that 39 vulnerable people lost their lives because of their greed and recklessness. 'The CPS is committed to working with law enforcement to dismantle these smuggling networks and prevent them from profiting from their criminality. 'Hughes failed to pay back his confiscation order in full and, as a result, he will be serving additional time in jail.' In addition to Hughes, four other men were jailed for between 13 and 27 years for the manslaughter of the men, women and children. They are: Romanian mechanic Gheorghe Nica, 48; Romanian Marius Mihai Draghici, 52, who was described as Nica's 'second-in-command'; lorry driver Maurice Robinson, 30, of Craigavon, who found the bodies; and Eamonn Harrison, 28, of Co Down, who had collected the victims on the continent. To date, more than £283,000 in ill-gotten gains has been ordered to be paid by defendants as compensation to the victims' families.
ITV News
10 hours ago
- ITV News
Lorry deaths people smuggler gets extra jail time for not paying compensation
A haulage boss who admitted the manslaughter of 39 people who were found in the back of a lorry must serve an extra year and four months in jail after failing to pay the full amount of compensation ordered to Hughes was jailed for 20 years in 2021 for the manslaughter of the Vietnamese nationals, aged between 15 and 44, found in a vehicle in Essex on October 22 victims died in sweltering conditions as they were transported in an airtight container from Zeebrugge in Belgium to Purfleet. Hughes, 45, of Armagh, Northern Ireland, was taken back to court in 2024 and ordered to pay more than £182,000 in compensation to the families of has paid £58,380 towards the confiscation order, but as of Tuesday – and including the interest accrued – he still owed more than £127, CPS Proceeds of Crime Division invited a court to impose an additional sentence on Hughes in light of his failure to pay the confiscation appeared before Folkstone Magistrates' Court for an enforcement hearing on Tuesday and the judge ordered that he serve an additional year and four months in prison, the CPS Chalk, specialist prosecutor for the CPS, said: 'Ronan Hughes led an unscrupulous network of organised criminals that sought to profit from smuggling desperate people.'It is devastating that 39 vulnerable people lost their lives because of their greed and recklessness.'The CPS is committed to working with law enforcement to dismantle these smuggling networks and prevent them from profiting from their criminality.'Hughes failed to pay back his confiscation order in full and, as a result, he will be serving additional time in jail.'In addition to Hughes, four other men were jailed for between 13 and 27 years for the manslaughter of the men, women and are: Romanian mechanic Gheorghe Nica, 48; Romanian Marius Mihai Draghici, 52, who was described as Nica's 'second-in-command'; lorry driver Maurice Robinson, 30, of Craigavon, who found the bodies; and Eamonn Harrison, 28, of Co Down, who had collected the victims on the date, more than £283,000 in ill-gotten gains has been ordered to be paid by defendants as compensation to the victims' families. Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know.
