Blog

Moves to Drug Test Students

PARENTS on the Fraser Coast might face the prospect of their kids undergoing random drug tests in the future if moves by The Southport School on the Gold Coast to test their students are successful. Prominent criminal defence lawyer Bill Potts said the whole area was a potential legal minefield. “There’s a real fear the school authorities have not thought this through,” he said. “If the school finds evidence of drugs in a student’s system, does the school notify the police? “Does it then become an arm of the police and if it does not report the student to police, is the school thus...

Crime Levy Passes Queensland Parliament

The State Government says it expects to raise more than $12 million a year by charging convicted criminals a court levy. New laws passed in Parliament last night will force convicted offenders to pay $300 for Supreme and District Court matters. The levy in the Magistrates Court will be $100. Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie has told the House it will be imposed on top of other court penalties. “There is provision for the offender levy to be paid on the day of the court, or registered with the State Penalties Enforcement Registry (SPER),” he said. “By utilising SPER the government is expecting to collect in excess...

Reporting Cuts Would Delay Justice: Lawyer

A Gold Coast lawyer says court proceedings will take much longer to complete if jobs are cut at the State Reporting Bureau (SRB). SRB staff have told the ABC they are deeply concerned about a News Limited report suggesting 200 jobs will be outsourced. It is understood management is urgently seeking confirmation of the cuts from the Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie. SRB is responsible for recording court proceedings and providing transcripts to lawyers, juries and the public. Gold Coast lawyer Bill Potts says scaling back the service would severely impact the delivery of justice. “Trials, which cost anything up to $30,000 to $50,000 will be delayed,”...

Police Face Legal Minefield in Deciding on Ashby Investigation

Queensland police are negotiating a legal minefield to assess whether to launch a full criminal investigation into a complaint by stood-aside Speaker Peter Slipper that the former staffer pursuing him for sexual harassment where he had sex with two underage males nine years ago. In Queensland, sex with minors is an offence carrying a maximum of 14 years in jail, but police have received only a “third-party” complaint from Mr Slipper about his former aide James Ashby’s alleged dealings. The Liberal National Party turncoat wrote to Queensland Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson in late June to relay the claims about Mr Ashby’s alleged...

Ex-Lover Rammed at High Speed

DARREN Muscat fell in love at the age of 21 and was jilted by a cougar twice his age. His 44-year-old lover left him for an older man and Muscat got angry and sent her 49 text messages in one afternoon. He stalked her and her new partner, waited on the Peak Downs Hwy for them to drive past, and then he rammed them several times at high speed, trying to force them over the Eton Range. Muscat spent 67 days in custody after the Eton Range incident before he was let out on bail with a special condition that he received psychological...

Drug Importer’s Jail Cell Hell

EXPOSED to beatings, sexual assault and threats while cramped in a third world jail cell with eight other prisoners, Stephen Ploderer was living a nightmare. The 37-year-old was a world away from his Sunshine Coast home waiting to be returned to Australia to face drug importation charges. Ploderer was arrested in Malaysia in 2010 after Australian police discovered his attempt to import almost 1kg of amphetamine from the Netherlands through the post. The former commercial diver and Fraser Island oyster farmer pleaded guilty in Brisbane Supreme Court this week to importing and possessing a marketable quantity of a drug. Justice Peter Applegarth said the...

No Bail Application for Accused Baby Killer

A father charged with the murder of his seven-month-old son has been in a mental health facility since his arrest, the Beenleigh Magistrate Court has heard today. The 38-year-old man was charged late last month with murdering his baby son after the pair plunged into the Logan River at Beenleigh, south of Brisbane. Police divers recovered the baby’s body the next morning. The matter was mentioned in court today and adjourned until September 3. The accused, who is now also facing two minor drug charges, did not appear today in the Beenleigh Magistrates Court and there was no application for bail. His solicitor Mark Williams, from Potts...

Two Strikes & You’re In

THE State Government has pushed through controversial mandatory sentencing laws for repeat child sex offenders despite warnings the new laws could risk child murders. The government also was warned there would likely be long delays in court processes if people had little incentive to plead guilty, with a consequential impact on child victims and their families. Explanatory notes issued with the Criminal Law (Two Strike Child Sex Offenders) Amendment Bill 2012 – which was rushed through parliament on Tuesday night – acknowledge opposition to the law change. “Disturbingly, two stakeholders, the Queensland Police Service and the Bar Association of Queensland, warned of the...

Parliament Should Put Brakes on Cop Chase Law

Parliament is being urged to reject a new law with tough mandatory penalties for drivers failing to stop for police, with criminal defence lawyer Cameron Browne saying the penalties are worse than for some drink-driving offences. The proposed new law would carry a mandatory $5000 fine and two year licence suspension for anyone convicted of failing to stop a vehicle when ordered to do so by police. Mr Browne, a Director of Potts Lawyers, Queensland’s biggest private criminal defence law firm, said the Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2012 currently before the Queensland Parliament, had major flaws in it and was not needed...

Sentencing Should Stay With Courts

PREMIER Campbell Newman should confirm the Government’s axing of its Sentencing Advisory Council means that mandatory sentencing – proposed by the former government – has finally been abandoned.

There is disquiet about mandatory sentencing. The previous government set up the sentencing council to find a way to introduce it. The council instead came out against a policy which took the decision-making process from the courts.