Latest news with #courtcase
Bloomberg
32 minutes ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Turkey's Popular Mayor Faces Political Ban in Latest Trial
Turkey's most popular opposition politician, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, is set to appear in court on Wednesday in a case that could end his career. The case launched by the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office in January accuses Imamoglu of threatening the city's top prosecutor and seeks a seven-year prison term as well as a ban on running for political office. Imamoglu has denounced the accusations, saying the judiciary is politicized.
The Guardian
32 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Hannah McGuire murder trial: witness denies knowing victim was inside burnt-out ute
A man who claims he saw an accused murderer set fire to a ute has repeatedly denied he knew the alleged victim was inside. Benjamin O'Keefe told the Victorian supreme court he knew the orange Mitsubishi Triton belonged either to Hannah McGuire or her family, but claimed he never thought the 23-year-old McGuire was inside the vehicle when he followed Lachlan Young to the remote bushland location. 'I didn't know her body was in there,' O'Keefe told the jury on Wednesday. Young is accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend in the early hours of 5 April 2024, before driving her body in the Triton to Scarsdale, south-west of Ballarat, and setting the ute alight. He has admitted to killing McGuire but denies the charge of murder, claiming her death was a spontaneous and unplanned incident. O'Keefe told the court Young shared a plan with him on 2 April to 'roofie' McGuire and cause her to have a car crash in order to scare her out of taking their house. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Two days later, O'Keefe said he heard a car horn and went to his front lawn to see Young waiting inside the Mitsubishi Triton. O'Keefe told the jury he did not look inside the ute and obeyed Young's instructions to follow behind in his vehicle. He claimed they went to Scarsdale where Young drove the Triton into some trees and then ordered O'Keefe to turn his car around. Young then used a yellow blowtorch to set fire to the front of the Triton, O'Keefe told the jury. O'Keefe claimed Young gave him $45 after the incident without an explanation. He told the jury he deleted security camera footage of him leaving and returning to his house because he did not want to be connected to the car fire. But he maintained he only suspected McGuire was in the vehicle after he learned she had died later that day. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion O'Keefe said he visited Young, worried he may have been implicated in a murder. 'I went up to him and said, 'Hannah better not have been in that car',' he told the jury. He claimed Young told him McGuire was already dead as she had been suffocated. Under questioning from defence barrister Glenn Casement, O'Keefe repeatedly denied he knew McGuire was in the Triton. O'Keefe admitted he did not contact police, instead deciding to drink with Young and then go on a camping trip with friends. Detectives arrested O'Keefe on 7 April but he was never charged over McGuire's death. The trial continues.
Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Workmate claims alleged killer planned to 'roofie' murder victim after she broke up with him
An accused murderer planned to drug his ex-girlfriend and crash her in a car so he could scare her out of taking their house, one of his workmates claims. Benjamin O'Keefe told the Victorian Supreme Court that Lachlan Young shared his plan to harm his former partner Hannah McGuire on April 2, 2024. 'He started talking about wanting to roofie Hannah and take her out bush and scare her so she wouldn't take the house and other things from him,' Mr O'Keefe said in evidence on Tuesday. Mr O'Keefe claimed Young asked him to act as a getaway driver, which he ultimately declined after speaking to his girlfriend. Two days later, Mr O'Keefe said he received another message from Young asking him to meet at a nearby corner at midnight. Mr O'Keefe told the jury he went to the designated spot without his phone but Young wasn't there so he returned home. He then heard a car horn and went to his front lawn to see Young waiting inside an orange Mitsubishi Triton. Mr O'Keefe told the jury he did not look inside the ute and instead just obeyed Young's instructions to follow behind in his vehicle. He claimed they went out to remote bushland where Young drove the Triton into some trees and then ordered Mr O'Keefe to turn his car around. Young then used a yellow blow torch to set fire to the front of the Triton, Mr O'Keefe told the jury. After holding the blowtorch there for a few minutes, it's alleged Young then returned to Mr O'Keefe's car but told him to wait a minute. '(We were) just watching the car to make sure it caught on fire,' Mr O'Keefe told the jury. 'That's what Lachie wanted.' Mr O'Keefe claimed Young gave him $45 after the incident although he never explained why. Young is accused of murdering Ms McGuire in the early hours of April 5, before driving her body in the Triton to remote bushland and setting the ute alight. The 23-year-old has admitted to killing Ms McGuire but denies the charge of murder, claiming her death was a spontaneous and unplanned incident. In his opening address, defence barrister Glenn Casement told the jury they should be critical of Mr O'Keefe's evidence, saying he was not a credible witness. Mr Casement is expected to cross-examine Mr O'Keefe on Wednesday after senior crown prosecutor Kristie Churchill finishes her questioning. Lifeline 13 11 14
Irish Times
15 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Michael Flatley refused access to documents in row over legal fees and receiver costs
Lord of the Dance star Michael Flatley has suffered a setback in his legal row over a €1.4 million disputed costs bill associated with his recent battle to keep a receiver from the door of his Cork mansion, Castlehyde. The entertainer, in an affidavit opened last May before the Commercial Court where he is disputing legal and receiver fees, claimed he was shocked at what he called the 'blatant' level of alleged 'overcharging'. Referring to a receiver costs bill of €86,000 plus legal costs of €186,000, Mr Flatley alleged he may be seen 'as an easy mark for inflated costs'. Also in dispute are €793,000 in legal fees from the opposing side in the Castlehyde receiver battle. But Mr Justice Mark Sanfey on Tuesday refused the Flatley side's application for key documentation from Novellus Finance Ltd and the receivers who were appointed over Castlehyde. Mr Flatley's legal team want the documentation as part of their bid to have all of part of the €1.4 million disputed costs lodged in court returned. READ MORE In his judgment, Mr Justice Sanfey said the Flatley side have 'to use a colloquial expression put the cart before the horse'. The allegations of overcharging are very serious, the judge said, and required to be pleaded appropriately before any question of the adequacy of documents furnished or the need for discovery of further documentation could be considered. He said the Flatley application was 'premature and inappropriate'. To accede to it 'would be to permit a trawl through sensitive and confidential documentation in circumstances where the Flatley allegations have not been formally articulated in pleadings'. The other side, the judge said, must be given an opportunity to meet the allegations made against them and respond as they see fit before the question of whether they must provide supporting documentation for their claims, arises. Mr Justice Sanfey commented that an application to court as was contemplated by the Flatley side did not seem appropriate in relation to the question of legal or receivers costs 'in circumstances where there are statutory mechanisms for appropriate interrogation of such claims and production of documentation relevant to them'. Mr Flatley paid off a €6.9 million loan on his Castlehyde mansion last March to save it from the receiver. The original legal battle related to a loan made to Mr Flatley's Blackbird Film Productions Ltd by Novellus Finance Ltd, with registered offices at St Stephen's Green, Dublin, in 2023 with repayments of €67,000 per month over two years. Novellus claimed there had been default on repayment, which Mr Flatley denied. Mr Flatley had provided a guarantee for the loan on the strength of the value of his Castlehyde mansion. As a result of the alleged default, Novellus appointed a receiver over the property. An interim injunction was granted to the Flatley side to prevent the receiver from taking further measures in relation to Castlehyde and a judge conducted a two-day hearing on the matter. The Flatley side asked the court to hold off on giving judgment on whether to set aside the interim injunction stopping the receiver taking steps or grant an interlocutory injunction to the Flatley side and said Mr Flatley was flying into Dublin to pay off the loan. The €6.9 million loan was finally paid off but the issue of certain disputed costs remained. In his judgment, Mr Justice Sanfey said Mr Flatley had refinanced the loan from Novellus and redeemed the mortgage and had 'effectively withdrawn the proceedings' and consented to an order that he pay the costs of the proceedings to the defendants. As such, the judge said the issues between the parties as set out in the proceedings have been resolved and the various allegations by Mr Flatley against the defendants must be regarded as withdrawn. 'Notwithstanding this, Mr Flatley now seeks to make a new range of allegations against the defendants in relation to alleged overcharging in respect of legal and receivers costs and in relation to interest.' The judge said allegations of this nature are extremely serious, particularly for professional defendants such as the receivers. The allegations were not part of the original proceedings, he said, and do not find expression anywhere other than in Mr Flatley's affidavit. The defendants, he said, strenuously deny that there has been any overcharge. The judge said pleadings are absolutely necessary to bring definition and clarity to the allegations made by Mr Flatley.
Daily Mail
16 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Mother tried to kidnap husband in plot with lover to snatch him after late shift at work, court told
A mother and the man she was having an affair with attempted the kidnap of her own husband after he left work, a court heard today. Lucy Leggate, 35, a mother-of-four, denies attempting to kidnap Gary Leggate almost three years ago after he finished a late shift. She appeared in the dock alongside Daniel Algar, 41, as jurors were shown CCTV footage of a hooded figure walking near Mr Leggate's car shortly before he left work at 10pm. The court heard that after driving away from the Reflex Labels printing plant in Swineshead, Lincolnshire, a colleague who was following Mr Leggate's Ford S-Max saw the vehicle suddenly come to a halt on the wrong side of the road. In her statement which was read to Lincoln Crown Court this morning, the witness told how a 'masked man' then emerged from the back of the Ford and momentarily 'appeared to run after' Mr Leggate as he headed towards another vehicle, before changing direction. The woman said she asked Mr Leggate if he was ok and he replied 'someone was in my car.' She added: 'He (Mr Leggate) was in a right state.' Mr Leggate said he knew it was a man called Dan from Spalding, Lincolnshire, the witness stated, and had an affair with his wife. When police arrived at the scene at the A52 near Swineshead, they found Mr Leggate to be 'very shaken and upset', the court heard. The jury were shown CCTV footage of a hooded figure walking near Mr Leggate's car and his lights coming on just a few minutes before he left work at 10pm. Police found no DNA evidence which showed Algar had been in the rear of Mr Leggate's car but there were polyester fibres present which were similar to his work trousers, the jury heard. Mobile phone records showed Algar had made two short calls to Mrs Leggate on the morning of 22 September, it is alleged. A longer call of 42 minutes was also made by Mrs Leggate to Algar at 9.27pm on the same day, it is claimed. Algar was arrested the following day on suspicion of attempted kidnap after police stopped his works van. During three police interviews Algar admitted being in a relationship with Mrs Leggate, describing them as "boyfriend and girlfriend," but he denied being the man in her husband's car. Algar told police that Mr Leggate was not happy with the things going on between himself and Mrs Leggate. When asked if there was any plan concocted with her to cause any harm to Mr Leggate or "take him away", Algar replied: "Definitely not." Algar said he only went out to get petrol from a Morrisons service station in Pinchbeck on the night of the alleged attempted kidnap and confirmed he had spent much of the day on the phone to Lucy. He denied being the hooded person filmed on CCTV near Mr Leggate's work and said he had not seen him for two months. When asked why Mr Leggate said he recognised his voice as the man in the car, Algar said it was motivated by what was going on with him and the alleged victim's wife. Algar, of Spalding, and Leggate, of Fishtoft, Lincolnshire, both deny the attempted kidnap of Mr Leggate on 22 September 2022. The trial continues.
