Latest news with #WASupremeCourt
Perth Now
6 days ago
- Perth Now
Child rapist who tried to murder five-year-old girl granted release
A convicted child rapist who tried to murder a five-year-old girl has been granted release after spending 23 years behind bars. Stephen Neil White, 59, was jailed in 2001 after he dragged the young girl into bushland in the Western Australian town of Kununurra, struck her on the head with a rock, tied a rope around her neck until she lost consciousness, and raped her. At the time, the then 35-year-old was in a relationship with a woman who had brought along her two young cousins, whom she was caring for, on a camping trip with him on June 18, 2001. White later took the girl to hospital with life-threatening injuries, but fled the scene once she began receiving treatment, prompting a large-scale manhunt. He was eventually arrested and charged with attempted murder and rape, receiving a 17-year prison sentence. He was also handed an additional 16-month term for knocking the woman unconscious in the tent before dragging away the child. In 2013, a continuing detention order was imposed to keep him behind bars beyond his original sentence. Ultimately, White spent almost 22 years in prison before being deemed suitable for release in November 2023. He was placed on a three-year community supervision order and allocated more than $800,000 worth of NDIS support for one year. He reportedly told his lawyer he wanted to go back to prison. A WA Supreme Court justice ordered White's release under a strict supervision order. Credit: Richard Wainwright / AAP Image White has spent the majority of his adult life behind bars. In 1984, when he was in his twenties, he was sentenced to eight years in prison for sexually assaulting a 73-year-old woman in her South Australian home. That offence came a year after he indecently assaulted a girl under the age of 16. While on bail, he also attempted to sexually assault another woman, reportedly using a knife to subdue her. On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered White's release once again, and this time under 67 strict conditions. Under the supervision order, White will be monitored around the clock and receive intensive support through an NDIS plan valued at more than $800,000 a year, due to his intellectual disabilities. He must report regularly to police, abide by a curfew, refrain from consuming alcohol, and have no contact with children. He is also required to live at a designated address, remain within Western Australia, engage in rehabilitation programs, and avoid public events where children may be present. The decision to release White was informed by a psychiatric report presented to the court. White, who has an acquired brain injury and an IQ of 62, has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and antisocial personality disorder. The psychiatrist concluded that White is highly institutionalised and lacks the capacity to form meaningful relationships. However, the report said he had made progress in recent years while in custody and could be managed in the community under strict supervision. White will remain under the supervision order until December 2026.
West Australian
29-05-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Mladen Ninkov sets Martin Bennett onto Alan McKail as Grant Donaldson attacks Dalkeith welcome
High-flying company promoter Mladen Ninkov is trying to force his new Dalkeith neighbour Alan McKail to remove a pool and patio built in alleged breach of a land title restriction. The scrapping neighbours were in the WA Supreme Court on Tuesday with their legal teams arguing the fate of Mr McKail's mid-2024 backyard works. Mr McKail paid $3.9 million in November 2023 for his Tuscan-styled home property. It is immediately below Mr Ninkov's long-time residence as Waratah Place descends from Victoria Avenue to the Swan River. Mr Ninkov launched the legal action in October last year, after most of the work had been completed by Mr McKail with the help of his partner Leonie Gardner and stepson Ben Gardner. Mr Ninkov gave evidence in support of his application on Tuesday. He was challenged by Mr McKail's barrister Grant Donaldson about his recollection of when he spoke to his new neighbours in April last year and why he did not give them a friendlier welcome to Dalkeith. 'You don't just turn up at the front door with a bottle of champagne,' Mr Ninkov said. Mr Ninkov claims to have had a restrictive covenant over the lower property since 1996. The covenant allegedly requires the owner of Mr McKail's property to seek Mr Ninkov's permission for any works that increase the house's height or create new backyard structures. Mr Ninkov sought advice from his long-time lawyer Martin Bennett on April 9 about his restrictive covenant. A response he received from Mr Bennett that night and about 30 other documents are subject to claims of legal privilege. Mr Ninkov said he sought advice from Mr Bennett because he was worried about 'what they were going to do with the area'. 'These are expensive properties where you want to protect your amenities,' he said. 'There was no harm to check the restrictive covenant to see what it covers me for.' When Mr Donaldson asked why he did not raise the restrictive covenant with his neighbours last April, Mr Ninkov said: 'I always found that if you bring up legal matters, it does not engender good relationships with neighbours.' He flew overseas in early May 2024 for work across Europe and China, and did not return to Perth until early October. The hearing continues on Wednesday.
The Age
03-05-2025
- The Age
Cassius Turvey murder trial jury retires to deliberate verdicts
A jury has started deliberating in a trial for four people accused of murdering an Indigenous teenager after he was allegedly attacked with a metal pole. Cassius Turvey, a 15-year-old Noongar Yamatji boy, died in hospital 10 days after prosecutors say he was chased down, knocked to the ground and 'deliberately struck to the head' in Perth's eastern suburbs on October 13, 2022. Aleesha Louise Gilmore, 23, her then-boyfriend Jack Steven James Brearley, 24, and his mates, Brodie Lee Palmer, 29, and Mitchell Colin Forth, 26, are on trial in the WA Supreme Court for Cassius' murder. Prosecutors allege Brearley delivered the fatal blows while 'hunting for kids' because somebody had smashed his car windows and allege Forth and Palmer aided him, and, along with Gilmore, had a common purpose. Brearley denies he struck Cassius with a pole, saying he only punched him after the teen knifed him and that Palmer struck the fatal blows – which Palmer denies. Loading The trial that started in early February has been told the alleged attack on Cassius in bushland was 'the end point of a complex series of events that had absolutely nothing to do with him'. Prosecutor Ben Stanwix told the jury it was a 'tit-for-tat escalation' and Brearley and Forth had later used a car as a weapon and chased down two boys, hitting one of them. The following day, Gilmore's brothers warned that a group of teens could be coming to their family home, where Brearley also lived, looking for a fight.
Sydney Morning Herald
03-05-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
Cassius Turvey murder trial jury retires to deliberate verdicts
A jury has started deliberating in a trial for four people accused of murdering an Indigenous teenager after he was allegedly attacked with a metal pole. Cassius Turvey, a 15-year-old Noongar Yamatji boy, died in hospital 10 days after prosecutors say he was chased down, knocked to the ground and 'deliberately struck to the head' in Perth's eastern suburbs on October 13, 2022. Aleesha Louise Gilmore, 23, her then-boyfriend Jack Steven James Brearley, 24, and his mates, Brodie Lee Palmer, 29, and Mitchell Colin Forth, 26, are on trial in the WA Supreme Court for Cassius' murder. Prosecutors allege Brearley delivered the fatal blows while 'hunting for kids' because somebody had smashed his car windows and allege Forth and Palmer aided him, and, along with Gilmore, had a common purpose. Brearley denies he struck Cassius with a pole, saying he only punched him after the teen knifed him and that Palmer struck the fatal blows – which Palmer denies. Loading The trial that started in early February has been told the alleged attack on Cassius in bushland was 'the end point of a complex series of events that had absolutely nothing to do with him'. Prosecutor Ben Stanwix told the jury it was a 'tit-for-tat escalation' and Brearley and Forth had later used a car as a weapon and chased down two boys, hitting one of them. The following day, Gilmore's brothers warned that a group of teens could be coming to their family home, where Brearley also lived, looking for a fight.
ABC News
22-04-2025
- ABC News
Cassius Turvey murder trial prosecutor labels accused killer Jack Brearley a liar
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains an image of a person who has died, used with the permission of their family. A man accused of murdering Cassius Turvey was a "liar" who had no justification in striking the teenager with a trolley pole, a prosecutor has told the jury which will decide his fate. Jack Brearley is one of four people accused of murdering the 15-year-old Indigenous boy, who suffered a head injury after being beaten in October 2022 and died 10 days later. Prosecutor Ben Stanwix has been giving closing statements in the long-running WA Supreme Court trial, during which Mr Brearley has admitted punching the schoolboy but claimed he acted in self-defence after the teenager stabbed him with a knife. Jack Brearley arrives home on the day he's alleged to have fatally assaulted Cassius Turvey. ( Supplied: Supreme Court of WA ) Mr Stanwix said that was not true, but even if Cassius Turvey did cut Mr Brearley with a knife, "good on him", because he was rightfully defending himself. Mr Brearley and his co-accused Brodie Palmer, Aleesha Gilmore and Mitchell Forth have all pleaded not guilty to murder. Brearley 'pleased with himself' Several witnesses have testified they saw someone matching Mr Brearley's description attacking Cassius in bushland in Middle Swan. Earlier, Mr Brearley denied using a pole to bash the teenager. Shopping trolleys without handles were found in an alley next to Jack Brearley's home after the incident. ( Supplied: Supreme Court of WA ) But Mr Stanwix highlighted a phone call after the incident, during which Mr Brearley allegedly admitted "smacking" Cassius with a pole, describing it as "very powerful" evidence. "He was laying in the field and I was just smacking him with a trolley pole so hard, he learnt his lesson," the voice in the phone call said. Photo shows A young boy wearing a basketball singlet smiles for the camera. The WA Supreme Court hears testimony from the teenager at the centre of a "love triangle" that sparked a series of events ending in the alleged murder of Perth schoolboy Cassius Turvey. Mr Stanwix said these were not the statements of a man who was defending himself, but the "words of a man who deliberately beat up a kid and was pleased with himself" and thought it was "pretty funny". He told the jury Cassius never had a knife, and that Mr Brearley had been cut by another boy at the scene. The 15-year-old would've been "terrified" after a "pole-wielding maniac just belted one of his mates up the road", he said. The "mate" Mr Stanwix was referring to was a teenage boy on crutches, who witnesses said was assaulted minutes before Cassius was hit. Focus on evidence, jury urged The prosecutor said that "if he did use the knife", it would've been a "reasonable response" from Cassius, who'd been chased some 200 metres away from the earlier confrontation. Prosecutor Ben Stanwix appealed to the jury to look at the "combined force of the evidence". ( ABC News: David Weber ) "He'd already run away," Mr Stanwix said, and "he was still being pursued by an unknown adult with a metal pole". He said within hours of the incident, Mr Brearley had his hair cut to change his appearance and had "tried to frame an innocent man". Photo shows A young man wearing a baseball cap looks down at his phone One of the four people accused of murdering Perth schoolboy Cassius Turvey takes the stand for the first time to give evidence at his trial in the WA Supreme Court. Mr Stanwix called on the jury to focus on the "combined force of the evidence" rather than trying to answer every question raised during the trial. 'Stupid boofheads' He said the accused had for the most part defended themselves by "pointing the finger" at someone else, but the case was "not just a one-man show". It was "collective stupidity" involving "boofheads" who were "egging" each other on. Mr Stanwix said they had a "common intention" to find, threaten or attack school-aged children. Cassius Turvey suffered severe head injuries in the attack and died 10 days later. ( ABC News ) The prosecutor said such a group could provide "safety in numbers" and a "warm, comfortable environment" for "really dumb ideas". In such an environment, getting metal poles to target kids "can seem like genius". Mr Stanwix's closing submissions are continuing before Chief Justice Peter Quinlan. Loading
