Latest news with #PaulMcGirr
ABC News
17-07-2025
- ABC News
NSW Police officer Reuben Timperley found not guilty of multiple domestic violence offences
A suspended NSW Police officer accused of domestic violence offences against a former partner has been found not guilty of multiple assaults and intimidation. Constable Reuben Timperley, 28, was charged in January with seven offences against the woman, alleged to have occurred while he was off-duty between October 2022 and March 2024. On Wednesday, three counts of stalking/intimidation intending to cause fear of physical harm were dismissed after a hearing in Parramatta Local Court, primarily due to evidentiary aspects. Magistrate Anthony Spence found there was no case to answer. On Thursday, he also found the officer not guilty of three common assaults and a further count of intimidation. Magistrate Spence described the woman's evidence as "reasonably compelling" in some respects, but said he held concerns as to its reliability, leaving him with reasonable doubts about Mr Timperley's guilt. The woman recalled an incident between March and May 2023 where she alleged she was pushed onto a bed by Mr Timperley, before he pinned her down and held her wrist. The prosecutor characterised the alleged assault as "extremely forceful". It was not alleged there was any physical blow delivered, but the woman told the court she "felt like he was going to hurt me". Mr Timperley's defence lawyer, Paul McGirr, put to the complainant that there was "pushing and shoving" and suggested she was the aggressor, which she denied. She accepted that during this incident, she bit him on the chest. Mr Timperley was also accused of assaulting the woman by pushing her at her house in November or December 2023, at a point when they were no longer in a relationship. The woman recalled arguments had developed and she asked him to leave, before Mr Timperley "just switch[ed]" and began to verbally abuse her. Under cross-examination, she denied she was trying to stop him leaving. In March 2024, the woman visited Mr Timperley and another argument developed, before he allegedly pushed her as she was leaving. According to the prosecution's case, during that same incident, Mr Timperley said: "You're going to go down". In her evidence, the woman recalled that alleged comment as "you're going to be f****ed". She gave evidence that Mr Timperley followed her to the lifts and she felt intimidated. "I felt I wasn't going to be able to get out of the situation where he was getting increasingly more aggravated," she told the court. Magistrate Spence said CCTV of that incident was "open to conflicting interpretations". In finding Mr Timperley not guilty of the remaining four charges, he said issues of credibility and reliability were "extremely important" in a word-against-word case. The magistrate said the woman presented as a "confident and articulate young woman" who gave coherent evidence. He considered that her apparent motivation for giving a police statement in March last year was for restricted conduct orders against Mr Timperley. The court heard the woman felt "he was controlling me" and that Mr Timperley had mentioned a previous legal matter "that made no sense to me why he would know that". There was no evidence presented that Mr Timperley had used his position to access the police database and access restricted information. Magistrate Spence described the officer's evidence as given "in a very calm and seemingly dispassionate way". Mr McGirr has sought a costs order, taking aim at the police investigation and arguing investigating officers "weren't interested in anything that was exculpatory". In a separate case, Mr Timperley had also previously been found guilty of illegally accessing the police database in 2021 to look up a woman he was dating. He was spared a conviction, handed a conditional release order and was allowed to keep his job. Mr Timperley's employment was placed "under review" when he was charged over the more recent allegations in January. NSW Police confirmed he remained suspended without pay as of Thursday.
Daily Mail
08-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Legendary rock icon faces court after being caught speeding on his way to a gig
Cold Chisel guitarist Ian Moss will have to watch his speed whether he's taking the last car out of Sydney or passing flame trees as a weary driver. The legendary rocker was nabbed by police doing 115km/h in a 100km/h zone over the Labour Day long weekend in October while driving to Brisbane from Armidale in NSW 's northern tablelands. Moss is one of the founding members of Cold Chisel which is known for Australian rock classics such as Khe Sanh, Flame Trees, Cheap Wine and Choir Girl. Opting to contest the matter in court, an administrative mistake meant the musician was convicted and fined in his absence. Moss appeared before magistrate Christine Haskett in John Madison Tower on Tuesday when his lawyer Paul McGirr sought to have his conviction thrown out. His case would have been heard in the adjacent Downing Centre but that complex has been closed due to flooding from a burst water main since June 17. 'Oh, it's Mr Moss,' magistrate Christine Haskett said, recognising the Cold Chisel founding member. When asked his 70-year-old client's age, Mr McGirr said: 'I don't want to embarrass him, he looks better than me.' Moss had his Peugeot on cruise control at the time he was caught by police, the court was told. The car did not have an automatic braking mechanism and sped up going down a hill, Mr McGirr said. He described his client as a modest man who was not a jetsetter. 'He's one of those old school rockers who likes to get into his car and drive,' the lawyer told Ms Haskett. Moss appeared in court supported by the band's tour manager Chris Bastick. Bastick provided written evidence to the magistrate that Moss had done a lot for charity, including by driving to remote towns and doing concerts there. 'Because of his legendary status… people will turn up anywhere and pay to listen to him,' Mr McGirr said. Moss was also travelling to the US to go on a motorcycling trip and a conviction would upend all of that, his lawyer argued. As well as the administrative matter leading to the conviction in his absence, Moss had also had his licence suspended for a month in error, the court was told. 'It's been a real runaround with respect to this particular matter,' Mr McGirr said. Ms Haskett agreed that a conviction was not warranted, instead imposing a three-month conditional release order. Cold Chisel, who formed in Adelaide in 1973 and have sold more than 7million albums, performed a 50th anniversary tour last year. Moss wrote Bow River for the band's 1982 album Circus Animals and it has become his signature tune, along with the solo recording, Tucker's Daughter. His vocals also feature on Cold Chisel favourites Saturday Night, When the War Is Over and My Baby.
ABC News
06-05-2025
- Sport
- ABC News
Jacob Preston's lawyer hits out as Bulldogs NRL star receives four-match ban
Jacob Preston's lawyer has implored the NRL to launch a crackdown on diving after the Canterbury forward's State of Origin hopes were dashed at the league's judiciary. A dejected Preston was on Tuesday night found guilty of a crusher tackle on Gold Coast's Tino Fa'asuamaleaui and handed a four-match ban in a blow to the ladder-leading Bulldogs. Preston's disappointment was doubled by the fact he could have received a fine if not for two previous offences this year. Instead, he will be sidelined for a month. The NSW hopeful will miss matches against Canberra, the Sydney Roosters, the Dolphins and Parramatta, and not play again before teams are picked for State of Origin II. But in a stunning post-hearing statement, Preston's lawyer Paul McGirr claimed diving was widespread in the game as players attempted to earn penalties from crusher tackles. "I'm not suggesting this with Tino, but some players certainly appear to be lying down a bit in order to milk a penalty," McGirr said. "Particularly when players go down and behave like their heads [are] almost falling off, and then they're running it up two or three times in the next [set of] six." Preston (left) and his lawyer Paul McGirr during Tuesday night's NRL judiciary hearing. ( AAP: Dan Himbrechts ) McGirr's comments come after the record spate of sin-bins for foul play a fortnight ago, before a significant reduction at Magic Round. Taking part in his first NRL hearing, McGirr said his stance came out of a fear the league would go down the same path as rugby union with stop-start play. "The general punter in the pub is sick of it," McGirr said. "After the game even sometimes you can see opposition players smiling at each other and laughing about it. "In this instance, the referee never even called anything out." Photo shows Stefano Utoikamanu stands with blood on his eyebrow surrounded by players during a Melbourne Storm-Canberra Raiders game. Stefano Utoikamanu and Trent Loiero are not cited by the NRL's match review committee after giving away penalties that cost Melbourne victory against Canberra. Inside the hour-long hearing, Preston claimed Canterbury had prepared for Fa'asuamaleaui to turn his back into tackles. And while McGirr suggested that left Fa'asuamaleaui vulnerable to injury, Preston said the Bulldogs had discussed how to tackle him safely. McGirr then showed the panel at least 12 separate runs from Fa'asuamaleaui in Sunday's match at Lang Park, where he turned his back into tackles during the Titans' loss. "Generally he will run the ball up and hit and spin and look to offload or gain post-contact metres while threatening to offload," Preston said. "We practise ways that are safe. We always prioritise the duty of care of players." The judiciary panel of Tony Puletua and Paul Simpkins took less than 15 minutes to reach its decision to suspend Preston. AAP
