Latest news with #NSWSupremeCourt

The Age
4 hours ago
- Politics
- The Age
Police say Harbour Bridge protest could end in crowd crush
Activists say they are willing to delay this weekend's march over the Harbour Bridge if police agree to support the protest, as NSW Police fight to prohibit the demonstration in court. An urgent hearing in the NSW Supreme Court heard up to 50,000 protesters could descend on the bridge on Sunday, which police argue cannot be accommodated safely in such a short timeframe. The protesters plan to march from Lang Park near Wynyard to the US consulate in North Sydney at 1pm on Sunday. 'Fifty thousand people at Lang Park, whether authorised or unauthorised, has significant public safety risk, crowd crush. I'm personally concerned about that,' acting assistant police commissioner Adam Johnson said under cross-examination. Palestine Action Group protester Josh Lees, who earlier described the protest as 'unstoppable', said ahead of the court hearing that he would be willing to delay the protest by three weeks if police supported the route over the bridge. However, he said marching on Sunday was still 'plan A'. 'Are the police really saying that they are going to storm in and arrest children, disabled people who are on our march, elders who are coming for the first march that they've ever been on, members of the Jewish community here who are against the genocide that we see in Gaza, trade union leaders, church leaders, state members of parliament?' Lees said. 'Is that the option really that we want to go down on Sunday?' Lees said protesters were happy to negotiate with police and would commit to keeping some lanes of the bridge open for buses and emergency vehicles. Acting Deputy Commissioner Peter McKenna told 2GB the protest was, in fact, 'stoppable', and accused protesters of communicating mixed messages about whether the protest would go ahead regardless of the court outcome.

Sydney Morning Herald
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Police say Harbour Bridge protest could end in crowd crush
Activists say they are willing to delay this weekend's march over the Harbour Bridge if police agree to support the protest, as NSW Police fight to prohibit the demonstration in court. An urgent hearing in the NSW Supreme Court heard up to 50,000 protesters could descend on the bridge on Sunday, which police argue cannot be accommodated safely in such a short timeframe. The protesters plan to march from Lang Park near Wynyard to the US consulate in North Sydney at 1pm on Sunday. 'Fifty thousand people at Lang Park, whether authorised or unauthorised, has significant public safety risk, crowd crush. I'm personally concerned about that,' acting assistant police commissioner Adam Johnson said under cross-examination. Palestine Action Group protester Josh Lees, who earlier described the protest as 'unstoppable', said ahead of the court hearing that he would be willing to delay the protest by three weeks if police supported the route over the bridge. However, he said marching on Sunday was still 'plan A'. 'Are the police really saying that they are going to storm in and arrest children, disabled people who are on our march, elders who are coming for the first march that they've ever been on, members of the Jewish community here who are against the genocide that we see in Gaza, trade union leaders, church leaders, state members of parliament?' Lees said. 'Is that the option really that we want to go down on Sunday?' Lees said protesters were happy to negotiate with police and would commit to keeping some lanes of the bridge open for buses and emergency vehicles. Acting Deputy Commissioner Peter McKenna told 2GB the protest was, in fact, 'stoppable', and accused protesters of communicating mixed messages about whether the protest would go ahead regardless of the court outcome.


Perth Now
5 hours ago
- Perth Now
Killer's shocking lies before triple murder
A taekwondo instructor who confessed to a shocking triple murder in Sydney's west has confirmed his pleas as he gets set to learn his fate. Kwang Kyung Yoo, 51, earlier this year pleaded guilty to murdering Min Cho, 41, and a seven-year-old child at Yoo's North Parramatta taekwondo studio as well as Ms Cho's husband, Steven Cho, 39, at his Baulkham Hills home in February last year. A statement of agreed facts tendered to the court do not state Yoo's motivation for the horrific murders. However, they do reveal that in the lead-up he lied to his wife that he was being given a BMW as a work car and instead took Ms Cho's BMW X5 after killing her. The court documents also reveal he was obsessed with wealth and had told lies about his academic credentials and having competed at the Olympics. Yoo confirmed his three guilty pleas in the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney on Friday. 'Yes,' Yoo said, appearing from prison via videolink, as he confirmed he would plea guilty to each murder. Yoo hung his head during Friday's mention in the Supreme Court. Kwang Kyung Yoo murdered three people. Credit: Supplied Yoo falsely claimed he competed at the Olympics. Facebook Credit: Supplied Yoo ran the Lion's Taekwondo and Martial Arts Academy at North Parramatta and was known to his students as 'Master Lion' at the time of the horrific triple murder. According to court documents, in January last year, he lied to his wife when he told her that a primary school – where he had a part-time job – was giving him a BMW as a work car. In the 11 days leading up to the horrific murders, Yoo was captured on CCTV driving into the complex where the Cho family lived in his grey Toyota Camry on five occasions The court was told that about 6.22pm on February 19, after the other parents and students had left his taekwondo studio, Yoo strangled Ms Cho in a storeroom before dragging her body into the office. Later that evening, he was captured on CCTV taking Ms Cho's car keys before he later called his wife to say his new BMW had arrived. 'The car has arrived,' he told her during a brief phone call. Murder victims Min Cho and her husband Steven. Supplied Credit: Supplied He then killed the seven-year-old boy in the storeroom by strangling him. At 8.48pm, he drove Ms Cho's BMW X5 away from the scene to her Baulkham Hills townhouse where he broke in. Mr Cho returned home and was stabbed to death by Yoo, with blows to the head, neck and chest. Mr Cho stabbed Yoo in self-defence but was killed in the altercation. Yoo returned to his studio and called his wife, saying: 'I've been stabbed with a knife.' He drove to Westmead Hospital and was treated for a collapsed lung and stab wounds. He claimed to police that he had been stabbed by three people in the carpark of a North Parramatta Woolworths; however, officers quickly established that was a lie after viewing CCTV footage. Police searched Ms Cho's BMW, which Yoo had driven to hospital, and found traces of blood inside. Mr Cho's body was discovered the next day when friends became concerned and went to the couple's home. Police then went to the Lion's Taekwondo and Martial Arts Academy, where they noticed blood on the front steps before the bodies of Ms Cho and the boy were found inside. Yoo's taekwondo studio where two bodies were discovered. NewsWire / Gaye Gerard Credit: News Corp Australia Police outside the Chos' Baulkham Hills home. NewsWire/Gaye Gerard. Credit: News Corp Australia 'During the investigation, police obtained evidence that suggested that the offender (Yoo) had interests in luxury items, social status and wealth,' the court documents state. Police found evidence of Yoo inspecting properties and falsely telling agents that he was acting on behalf of his wealthy employer or his parents who had a budget of up to $50m. He showed the mother of one of his students a picture that he falsely claimed was taken from his home with Harbour Bridge views. He had further lied about owning property in Sydney's eastern suburbs and luxury cars and that he holidayed in New York and California. Yoo also told people, including his wife and sister, that he had a master's degree and PHD from Macquarie University and The University of Sydney. However, both institutions had no record of him. He was also found to have lied about competing in taekwondo at the 2000 Olympics. Yoo will appear in court again next week when a date will be set for sentence proceedings.

Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Grandmother's chilling account of home invasion that left her husband dead
An 88-year-old woman has described screaming out for help as she watched her dying husband lie helplessly on their living room floor following a violent home invasion allegedly committed by their own nephew. Kalim Saliba was aged 86 when he was fatally attacked at his house in Sydney's north while he and his wife, Shahidy, sat in front of their TV. Tony Phillip Tadrosse and Danny Stephen have pleaded not guilty to murdering Kalim on April 29, 2020 and assaulting Shahidy with an attempt to rob while armed. The prosecution alleges 60-year-old Tadrosse, who is the Salibas' nephew, and 35-year-old Stephen, an extended family member, were financially motivated after hearing 'within the family circle' that the victims kept large amounts of cash in their home. Testifying about that night in a NSW Supreme Court trial, Shahidy described turning down the volume on her TV when she heard strange noises upstairs shortly after midnight, while her sleeping husband lay next to her. Through an Arabic interpreter and giving evidence via audiovisual link, Shahidy said she initially thought the sounds came from a possum and she woke her husband up. After Kalim went outside though their garage door to see what was happening, Shahidy, who was standing at the bottom of the stairs in their loungeroom, saw a man standing at the top of the stairs to their second floor. She could not see his face because it was covered, she said. The court heard Shahidy went outside to tell her husband there was someone inside the house. Kalim said he wanted to go inside, but she pulled his shirt to try to stop him, telling him he could not go in alone.

The Age
a day ago
- The Age
Grandmother's chilling account of home invasion that left her husband dead
An 88-year-old woman has described screaming out for help as she watched her dying husband lie helplessly on their living room floor following a violent home invasion allegedly committed by their nephew. Kalim Saliba was 86 when he was fatally attacked at his house in Sydney's north while he and his wife, Shahidy, sat in front of their TV. Tony Phillip Tadrosse and Danny Stephen have pleaded not guilty to murdering Kalim on April 29, 2020, and assaulting Shahidy with an attempt to rob while armed. The prosecution alleges 60-year-old Tadrosse, who is the Salibas' nephew, and 35-year-old Stephen, an extended family member, were financially motivated after hearing 'within the family circle' that the victims kept large amounts of cash in their home. Testifying about that night in a NSW Supreme Court trial, Shahidy described turning down the volume on her TV when she heard strange noises upstairs shortly after midnight while her sleeping husband lay next to her. Through an Arabic interpreter and giving evidence via audiovisual link, Shahidy said she initially thought the sounds came from a possum and she woke her husband up. After Kalim went outside though their garage door to see what was happening, Shahidy, who was standing at the bottom of the stairs in their loungeroom, saw a man standing at the top of the stairs to their second floor. She could not see his face because it was covered, she said. The court heard Shahidy went outside to tell her husband there was someone inside the house. Kalim said he wanted to go inside, but she pulled his shirt to try to stop him, telling him he could not go in alone.