 'Hit'
was ordered on CBD killer Christopher Hudson
October 5, 2008
Killer
bikie Christopher Hudson was the target of a contract killing in the
days after his deadly King St rampage.
Police sources have revealed Hells
Angel associates of Hudson ordered the execution to head off any
probes into the gang's illicit drug business.
Hudson gave himself up to police as two
men were flying from Adelaide to carry out the killing, according to
police sources.
The rogue gunman had been in hiding at
a bikie enclave near Wandong, north of Melbourne, after the CBD
shootings that killed solicitor Brendan Keilar and critically injured
Dutch tourist Paul de Waard and Kaera Douglas, the sources said.
"Two guys were on a plane from
Adelaide -- they had been dispatched to take him out," one police
source said.
"(Hudson) was holed up in country
Victoria and some of his friends told him he should give himself up
and take a plea to save himself.
"He was told that 'all would be
forgiven' if he gave himself up to take the heat off the gang.
"They wanted to prevent any
further embarrassment for the gang or any wider investigation into its
activities."
Hudson was sentenced last month to a
minimum of 35 years jail.
Brendan Keilar's father, Harry, said
the killer was "irredeemable".
Asked if he could find forgiveness for
Hudson, he said: "Look I just feel anger.
"But it just gets back to the fact
that nothing can replace a son that you've lost."
Hudson is appealing against his
sentence.
'Hit' was ordered on CBD killer
Christopher Hudson
By Laurie Nowell
Herald Sun
October 5, 2008
 Debs vows silence on kill claim
Herald Sun
October 4, 2008
Cop killer Bandali Michael Debs has vowed to give a no-comment interview
if police interview him over the murder of a prostitute 13 years ago.
Detectives say Debs, 55, is a suspect in the murder of Donna Anne
Hicks at Minchinbury, in Sydney's west, in 1995.
Melbourne
Magistrates' Court was told yesterday that Debs' DNA profile
matched DNA collected from the scene and that a vehicle he owned at
the time was strikingly similar to the one Ms Hicks was last seen
getting into.
It was also told that mobile phone and banking records showed that
Debs was in Sydney's west around the time.
Detectives have applied to interview Debs at Barwon prison, where
he is serving three life sentences for the murders of Sgt Gary Silk
and Sen-Constable Rod Miller at Moorabbin in 1998 and for the murder
of sex worker Kristy Harty, 18, in 1997 at Upper Beaconsfield.
Debs, who appeared in court via videolink, said: "If the
police come out to the prison I'm going to make no statement
whatsoever".
Magistrate Simon Garnett has reserved his decision until October
13.
Sen-Det Matthew Packham, of the NSW homicide squad, said Ms Hicks,
34, was last seen getting into a dark four-wheel-drive on the Great
Western Highway, where she was working as a prostitute.
She was found dead the next day, on April 22, 1995. She died of a
gunshot wound to the head.
He said that at the time Debs owned a dual cab Holden Rodeo ute
with a canopy similar to the one on the ute Ms Hicks got into.
The vehicle was traded in 1997 and the dealer noted that it had a
hole in the driver's side seat and another in the floor, Sen-Det
Packham said.
He said a Commonwealth
Bank account in Debs' name was accessed at the same St Mary's
hotel where Ms Hicks had gone for a drink the night before her body
was found.
"Victoria
Police have also provided us with details of a conversation
between Bandali Debs and Jason Roberts (Debs' co-accused in the police
murders) that took place in 1999 that has the suggestion of Mr Debs
shooting a woman in the head," Sen-Det Packham said.
Victoria Police Det Acting Sgt Jason Wallace applied for permission
to conduct a video-recorded interview with Debs for six hours at
Barwon prison.
He said the Holden Rodeo ute and Debs' former home had been
searched.
Debs' lawyer, Helen Spowart, said the court had no power to grant
the application because the offence was alleged to have happened
outside Victoria.
She said Det Acting Sgt Wallace's role was to investigate offences
in Victoria, not those in New South Wales.
Cop killer Debs vows silence on kill
claim
By Nicole Mayne
Herald Sun
October 4, 2008
 Renate
Mokbel living with son in jail
Herald Sun
October 3, 2008
Tony Mokbel's sister-in-law is being allowed to live in jail with her young
son while she undergoes a sentence for not paying a $1 million surety.
Renate Lisa Mokbel, 38, was jailed for
two years by a Supreme Court judge for failing to pay the bounty she
put up for her brother-in-law's bail when Mokbel fled overseas in
2006.
She pleaded guilty in the County Court
on Monday to two counts of perjury relating to affidavits and evidence
she gave about her financial position while in a protracted legal
battle to keep the $1 million.
Defence lawyer Sean Grant told the
court his client's two eldest children, 16 and 12, were being cared
for by their maternal grandmother.
But he revealed Mokbel's youngest child
was with her in custody at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in Deer Park.
"The authorities have allowed her
4 1/2 year-old son to be in prison with her because of the extreme
difficulties that he faced,'' Mr Grant said.
The children's father, Milad Mokbel, is
in custody waiting sentence after pleading guilty to trafficking and
attempting to traffic a large commercial quantity of
methylamphetamine, knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime and
blackmail.
During his plea hearing the court was
told Renate Mokbel had been allowed to visit with her husband in the
high security Acacia unit at Barwon Prison. The couple are also
allowed two 12-minute phone calls a week.
Prosecutor Ray Elston, SC, said Mokbel
did not disclose in an affidavit -- and to a Supreme Court hearing
where she was trying to have the order that she repay the surety
revoked -- that she had $336,000 in cash and $185,000 worth of
jewellery hidden in her uncle's garden.
She said her major assets and those of
family trust JR Mokbel Pty Ltd were properties in Brunswick and
Kilmore and two Mercedes.
Mr Elston said she also falsely claimed
another man was making monthly loan repayments on the Kilmore
property.
"There has been a deliberate
attempt to disguise the true nature of assets and financial status of
the prisoner on an application made to the Supreme Court to avoid the
consequences of an order she underhook to be responsible for,'' he
said.
Mr Elston said her offending struck at
the heart of the justice system and providing a surety was not a
hollow obligation which could be avoided.
Mr Grant said Mokbel had excellent
chances of rehabilitation and had led an unblemished life.
"Upon her release from prison this
woman essentially will be starting from scratch,'' he said.
A psychologist said Mokbel was
moderately depressed, worried about her children and her mother, who
has cancer.
Mr Grant argued it could not be proven
his client knew anything about the large cash sums buried along with
her jewellery because they had been handed over by her husband.
"He was telling her that he was a
successful gambler,'' he said.
"As a wife you might turn a blind
eye to it.''
Mr Grant asked Judge Tim Wood to
partially suspend Mokbel's sentence and not impact on her current
release date of March next year.
Prison rules say inmates with children
of preschool age can apply to have their children with them in jail.
A spokeswoman for Corrections Victoria
said the Mother and Child Program at Victoria's prisons provided the
opportunity for bonding between the mother and child and also gave the
mother an opportunity to commit to rehabilitation.
"It has been running successfully
in Victorian prisons for more than 20 years and the primary concern is
always with the best interest of the child,'' the spokeswoman said.
Renate Mokbel appeared in court earlier
this week but a suppression order prohibited publication of details of
the hearing until the end of a trial
for her brother-in-law Horty Mokbel.
Renate Mokbel living with son in jail
By Katie Bice, Carly Crawford
Herald Sun
October 3, 2008
 Roberta Williams silent on rumours
of Nine Network deal
By Carly Crawford
Herald Sun
October 4, 2008
Camera-loving
Roberta Williams has invoked the underworld code of silence on rumours
of a $150,000 deal with the Nine Network.
It is believed $3000 a week is changing hands under a scheme built
around Williams, the former wife of underworld serial killer Carl
Williams.
Legal sources say a 12-month deal was struck this year, but the
identity of the signatories are unclear.
Nine and Williams would say nothing about the terms yesterday, but
Nine denied a formal deal existed.
Nine publicity manager Michelle Stamper said: "There has never
been any contract with Roberta Williams and there never will be."
Crime Victims
Support Association president Noel McNamara was outraged at
suggestions that Williams, a convicted drug trafficker, was profiting
from her notoriety.
"There is never an excuse for this sort of thing,"' he
said.
"I just think it's disgusting.
"I know they're battling for ratings, but to stoop to that is
an insult to victims and the whole community."
Since April, Williams has revelled in a string of appearances on
the network's A Current Affair. The episode in which she
supplied her home videos produced strong ratings, according to Channel
9's Eddie McGuire.
The mother of four also appeared in a raunchy
picture spread for Zoo Weekly magazine.
She did not return calls yesterday, but has previously denied being
paid for TV appearances.
Williams has also defended media-related kickbacks, telling 3AW:
"Yes, I was involved in a serious crime but I've paid my debt to
society."
Williams is due to appear in court this month on numerous tax
evasion charges.
She was portrayed in the Nine's hit series Underbelly as a
foul-mouthed gangster's moll who abused her children and slept around.
Williams claimed Underbelly had made her so notorious she couldn't
even rent a house. She had fallen on hard times and the TV show wasn't
helping.
On actor Kat Stewart, Williams said: "If I ever see her I'd
grab her by the throat and knock her out.
"She should be ashamed of herself, putting on that stupid
voice. It's a ridiculous comedy. It's stupid. It's like she's a fan of
Kath & Kim."
When Williams revealed a vampy new look for the Zoo Weekly
spread, she said: "I'm kind of building my confidence and trying
to praise myself so I can feel good about myself."
The rumoured deal with Nine comes as authorities move to toughen
asset seizure laws. Police, prosecutors and Department of Justice
officials are reviewing the current scheme, which lets police restrain
assets thought to have been bought with the proceeds of crime.
The review has been in train for 12 months and a list of changes is
being finalised.
Roberta Williams silent on rumours of
Nine Network deal
By Carly Crawford
Herald Sun
October 4, 2008
Horty
Mokbel found not guilty on drug trafficking charges
October 3, 2008
Horty
Mokbel, 44 of Preston, was
accused of trafficking a large commercial quantity of
methylamphetamine. He had pleaded not guilty to the charge.
A Supreme Court jury today returned
a not guilty verdict on the charges against Mr Mokbel.
Co-accused Toreq Bayeh, 37, of
Altona North, was guilty of trafficking in a drug of dependence and
possession of equipment relating to trafficking of a drug of
dependence.
But the jury found him not guilty on
charges of trafficking commercial quantity of drug of dependence.
Bayeh had pleaded not guilty to
the charges.
Horty
Mokbel found not guilty on drug trafficking charges
By Shelley Hadfield
Herald Sun
October 3, 2008
 Archive
Update:
Goussis instructed to 'educate' girlfriend to keep quiet
April 29, 2008
Police investigating the murder of Lewis
Moran were like "sharks" on a "feeding frenzy",
a key witness in a Geelong man's murder trial said.
The man also said members of the Purana
Taskforce were "rats" who would "keep fuckin' thrashing
around the waters 'til they take every drop of blood out of ya".
"That's why they call them Purana,"
he said.
The comments, played to a Supreme Court
jury yesterday, were secretly recorded by police during a conversation
he had with Evangelos Goussis, 40, at
Port Phillip Prison in September 2004.
The jury yesterday heard almost three
hours of taped discussions between the men, who were both in prison at
the time for unrelated matters.
The man, who claims he was the driver in
Moran's murder, cannot be named. He is the key prosecution witness
against Goussis.
Giving evidence earlier in the trial, he
said Goussis was the man who chased Moran through the Brunswick Club and
shot him as he cowered in a corner in March 2004.
Goussis has pleaded not guilty to the
murder.
Detective Sen-Constable Simon Hunt
yesterday told the court between August and November 2004 a transmitting
device was installed in the prison's exercise yard, which the witness
and Goussis both had access to.
Their conversations, which were sometimes
hard to hear, were relayed back to the St Kilda Rd Police complex.
Recorded phone calls the men made to
Goussis' partner, Elizabeth Colic, were also played to the jury
yesterday.
In one tape, the man instructs Goussis to
"educate" Ms Colic, also known as Betty, not to talk to
police.
"You've just got to tell her, you
got to say straight out ... tell them to get fucked ... and if you
persist with it I am going to ring up the Police Ombudsmen," he
said.
"That's the way you've got to treat
the fuckin mongrels. Otherwise they will one day twist and twist, on
our backs all the time."
But during a phone call which the men
knew was being recorded, they advised Ms Colic to co-operate with
police.
"Ange's done nothing wrong, nothing
to worry about, nothing to hide and that's it," the witness told Ms
Colic.
In another recording, the man told a
prison guard an informer had pointed the finger at him and Goussis for
killing Moran.
"They believe in this informer and
they're trying to build a case around me," he said.
Goussis has also pleaded not guilty to
the attempted murder of Herbert Wrout who was shot by a second man
during the murder of Moran.
The trial before Justice Betty King
continues today.
Evangelos Goussis
instructed to 'educate' girlfriend to keep quiet
By Nicole Mayne
Geelong Advertiser
April 29, 2008
 Compo
for Moran mate
September 29, 2008
An underworld
figure who survived Melbourne's gangland war has been awarded $7500 in
crimes compensation.
Herbert John Wrout, a mate of murdered crime patriarch
Lewis Moran,
has also won his battle to have his $880 barrister's bill covered by
taxpayers.
Wrout, who has been accused of drug running and has a conviction
for possessing a pistol, had been drinking with Moran when he was shot
dead in 2004 at the Brunswick Club.
Wrout, now 66, was critically injured in the ambush.
He has since obtained top-tier financial support from the Victims
of Crime Assistance Tribunal.
On top of the cash payout, the tribunal also covered the cost of
fitting Wrout's temporary place of residence with security doors.
His pharmaceutical and counselling costs are covered for six years
from 2005.
Wrout yesterday confirmed he had been awarded the assistance for
"five bullet holes and a shortened lifespan".
VOCAT had initially refused to pay his legal costs related to the
trial of Evangelos Goussis, who was convicted of Moran's murder and
the intentional injury of Wrout.
But it backed down after Wrout challenged its refusal at the
Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
He faces further charges in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court next
month.
Wrout wants his legal fees covered for that appearance too, saying
VOCAT should cover costs incurred by all successful claimants in
criminal matters after they become victims of crime.
"For the trouble I got into in the last four years I don't
believe I am responsible," he said.
During a hearing for drug trafficking charges in 2005, a court
heard Wrout had suffered concentration lapses and would cry easily.
He was considered unfit to give evidence in the Goussis trial, with
a judge accepting that he had suffered post-traumatic amnesia.
Wrout has a conviction for possessing a pistol and was at one stage
accused of drug running, although a magistrate threw out the charge.
Compo
for Moran mate
By Carly Crawford
Herald Sun
September 29, 2008
 Zarah
still wears the pants
September 24, 2008
Gangland
lawyer Zarah Garde-Wilson proved yesterday a swelling baby bump was no
reason to resort to maternity wear.
Wearing sky-high stilettos, Ms Garde-Wilson was snapped leaving the County Court in a
slim-fitting black pants suit and a belt with gold clasp stretched
round her waist.
Nearing the final stages of pregnancy,
Ms Garde-Wilson continues to keep up her workload as head of her own
criminal law firm.
Ms Garde-Wilson, 30, revealed in June she was expecting her first
child.
Gangland lawyer Zarah Garde-Wilson
still wears the pants
Herald Sun
September 30, 2008
Cocaine supergrass loses extradition fight
(Herald Sun)
September 24, 2008
An accused cocaine
kingpin who allegedly bragged about supplying $30 million of drugs to
Australia's A-list of rockers, sports stars and TV personalities will be
returned to Australia under heavy guard.
The man, whose identity has been suppressed by Victorian courts, is
said to have a $1 million bounty on his head.
Today he lost his fight against extradition from the Netherlands,
where he has been in jail under maximum security since December.
It is believed armed police are set to travel to Europe to bring him
back to Melbourne.
The 40-year-old supergrass fled Australia in May 2004 after becoming
a police informant and secretly taping accused murderer Tony Mokbel and
others.
He told the Supreme Court in the Netherlands
today that his life
would be in danger if he returned to Australia, not only from former
cocaine clients but from corrupt police whom he helped expose.
But the court rejected his claim. His extradition is expected within
weeks.
He can ask for an injunction pending an appeal, but it is unlikely to
be granted.
Sources close to the supergrass told the Herald Sun
he was considering a new fight to have his case heard in the
Netherlands.
"He is afraid he will be killed in Australia," a friend
said. "The danger comes from both sides. His co-operation with
police led to arrests of officers there, so police are not interested in
offering him any witness protection. There is a $1 million bounty on his
head."
His lawyer declined to comment but said he could appeal
under Article 2 of the United
Nations' human rights charter, which protects people from inhumane,
degrading and other treatments that threaten life.
Australian Federal
Police arrested the supergrass in the Netherlands last year as he
tried to board a flight to Thailand on a fake passport.
He was allegedly the head of a cocaine ring running drugs between
Thailand, Canada and Australia.
 Police quiz Rod Collins
(Herald Sun)
September 24, 2008
A suspect in the murders of police informer
Terrence Hodson and his wife,
Christine (right), today angrily protested his innocence in court.
Rodney Charles
Collins, 63, appeared in Melbourne Magistrates'
Court after police applied to interview him over an armed robbery 21
years ago.
He stood in court, flanked by four guards, and declared he was a
target of police informers.
"I know nothing of these allegations at all -
whatsoever," he said.
"These allegations are maliciously manufactured by well-known
police informers to harvest their own needs and that of police."
"That is all I have to say. Permission denied."
 Defence lawyer Rob Stary said Mr
Collins (left) consented to be
interviewed but would exercise his rights not to comment.
Magistrate Carmen Randazzo granted police one hour
during the afternoon to speak to Mr Collins in the Melbourne Custody Centre.
He was later charged with one count of armed robbery and one count
of attempted murder.
Two bandits held up Samco Meats in Coburg in 1987, allegedly firing
a shot at a manager when the company safe could not be opened.
Ms Randazzo said she would also report to the chief magistrate Mr
Collins had been led into court while handcuffed, describing the
procedure as "totally inappropriate".
Mr Collins is on remand after being charged in June with the
murders of Ray and Dorothy Abbey.
The Abbeys were shot in the back of the head in their West
Heidelberg home in July 1987.
The Hodsons were killed in their Kew home in May 2004. Mr Collins
has not been charged over the Hodson murders.
Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon said investigators would also
speak to Mr Collins about the Hodson killings.
Mr Collins will face court again tomorrow for a mention hearing
over the Abbey murder charges
Vanstone helped suspected mafia figure
gain visa
September 23, 2008
Former immigration minister Amanda
Vanstone personally intervened to grant a suspected mafia figure a visa
in 2005 because she claimed it was "in the interest of Australia as
a humane and generous society".
The visa was granted to Francesco
Madafferi— who was arrested last month for an alleged major drug
trafficking conspiracy— around a year after his supporters donated
money to the Liberal Party and four Liberal MPs made representations or
contacted Ms Vanstone about his case.
As revealed in The Age on
Saturday, one of the donors was Mr Madafferi's brother, Antonio, an
alleged senior Calabrian crime figure. It has also emerged that one of
the MPs who contacted Ms Vanstone, Russell Broadbent, did so after a
request from another Liberal donor.
A document signed by Ms Vanstone, who is
now Australia's ambassador to Italy, reveals that she granted Mr
Madafferi a visa in November 2005 after "having regard to this
person's particular circumstances and personal characteristics".
Former immigration minister Philip
Ruddock had ordered his deportation in 2000 because of his alleged
involvement in serious crimes in Italy in the 1980s, and because he had
overstayed his visa and was in Australia as an illegal immigrant.
Mr Madafferi was arrested last month and
charged with conspiracy to traffic a commercial quantity of ecstasy.
A document tabled in parliament in March
2006 says that Ms Vanstone decided to exercise her discretionary powers
in the Madafferi case because it was "in the public interest".
The document says she granted Mr
Madafferi a permanent spouse visa on 3 November 2005 "as a
discretionary and humanitarian act to an individual with a genuine
ongoing need." Mr Madafferi had claimed to suffer serious mental
health problems and had been involuntarily admitted to a mental
institution during his fight to remain in Australia.
Ms Vanstone told The Age from Rome
yesterday that she had just returned from a trip to Russia and was too
busy to respond to questions, first sent last week, about the matter.
But in a further four-line statement, she said: "I have never
accepted any cash donation or any cheque made out to me. I have always
complied with the relevant legislation."
The Age revealed on Saturday that
14 months before Mr Madafferi was granted his visa, Ms Vanstone and
three other Liberal MPs attended a Liberal fundraiser in Melbourne
attended by several of Mr Madafferi's supporters.
The three MPs who attended the September
2004 fundraiser — Russell Broadbent, Bruce Billson and Marise Payne—
each lobbied or contacted Ms Vanstone about the case on behalf of Mr
Francesco's supporters or family. There is no evidence they did so
because of donations or improper influence.
The trio have said their involvement in
the case surrounded the impact of Mr Madafferi's detention and impending
deportation on his mental health and that of his wife and children.
Mr Broadbent has now revealed he
contacted Ms Vanstone about the visa case after a request from Frank
Lamattina— a vegetable grower, Liberal donor and long-time
acquaintance who lives in Mr Broadbent's electorate.
Vanstone helped suspected mafia figure
gain visa
By Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker
The Age
September 23, 2008
Hudson
to appeal life term
(Herald Sun)
September 23, 2008
City shooter
Christopher Hudson will fight his lifetime jail sentence.
The killer was discussing an appeal with his lawyers late
today.
Asked whether his son would appeal, his father Terry said:
"I'd say he'd have to be, but that's Chris's call."
He confirmed his son had met his lawyers after he was
sentenced
to life with a minimum of 35 years in the Supreme
Court.
Sources said an appeal was likely.
"It's the longest single non-parole period for a single
murder," one said. "You'd guarantee an appeal."
In the Netherlands, hero backpacker Paul de Waard welcomed the
sentence.
"It's the maximum available so that's good," he said.
Melbourne's
notorious binge-drinking nightclub culture was questioned by Justice
Paul Coghlan as he sentenced Hudson.
He said the murder of lawyer Brendan Keilar as he tried to help a
woman Hudson was assaulting may have been a result of liberal
licensing laws and the alcohol and drug abuse they promote.
"The community . . . may have to decide whether what happened
on the morning of June 18, 2007, was a consequence of an accepted
culture which allows venues to operate at almost all hours,"
Justice Coghlan said.
"It seems that overindulgence in alcohol is accepted, if not
encouraged, (in clubs) and the use of illicit drugs is at the very
least tolerated."
Hudson, 30, had been drinking at two King St strip clubs before his
8am shooting spree in William St.
He stood stony-faced in the dock today as he was told only his
plea of guilty had saved him from dying in jail.
He will be 65 before he gets the chance to walk the streets again.
Hudson glanced occasionally at his father during the near hour-long
sentence.
Twelve members of Hudson's bikie gang, the Hells Angels, were also
in court.
As Hudson was led into the dock, six men - three in Hells colours -
stood and saluted him with their fists clenched over their hearts.
Later, three members wearing red shirts and heavy black leather
jackets flanked Terry Hudson and wife Anne as they left the court.
Justice Coghlan said Hudson's calm and deliberate crime had shocked
Melbourne.
The Supreme Court heard a detailed account of Hudson's morning of
mayhem that left Mr Keilar dead, Mr de Waard and Kaera Douglas
fighting for their lives, and bash victim Autumn Daly-Holt with
serious head injures.
Hudson was high on a cocktail of steroids, alcohol and the drug ice
when he ferociously attacked Ms Daly-Holt outside King St strip club
Spearmint Rhino, then dragged a terrified Ms Douglas, 25, through the
city streets.
When Mr Keilar, 43, and Mr de Waard, 26, went to help her, Hudson shot
both, firing again as they lay on the ground.
Justice Coghlan said the shootings were terrifying in their simplicity
and would leave a lasting image with all those who saw them.
"These events occurred at a place where ordinary people are
entitled to feel safe," he said.
"Two of your victims were not known to you and were shot for
doing no more than trying to help the young woman you were assaulting.
"None of your victims represented any threat to you, imagined or
otherwise.
"Your conduct is all the more chilling because it remains
unexplained. It was calm and deliberate."
Justice Coghlan said Hudson had thrown little light on what happened,
leaving drug and alcohol abuse as the only explanation.
"The community might well find such explanation inadequate or, at
the very least, unsatisfying," he said.
The judge rejected a claim by Hudson's lawyers that the bikie,
overcome with regret, tried to kill himself while running from the
scene.
Justice Coghlan said all six bullets in Hudson's gun had been fired at
the three victims.
The judge acknowledged the suffering of Mr Keilar's family, saying:
"Brendan Keilar met his death as a direct result of trying to do
what was right and decent without regard for his own safety."
He accepted Hudson was remorseful and had good prospects of
rehabilitation, but he was a serious violent offender and protection
of the community was paramount.
Hudson had pleaded guilty to five charges including one of murder and
two counts of attempted murder.
He also admitted firing an unregistered pistol from the window of his
Mercedes-Benz six days before the CBD shootings, when he had
Collingwood footballer Alan Didak in the car.
Justice Coghlan said Hudson befriended Didak at Spearmint Rhino and
offered him a lift home.
On the way he took the footballer to the Hells Angels clubhouse in
Melbourne's northern suburbs.
As they drove there, Hudson fired a gun at some factories.
Hudson and Didak left the clubhouse after drinking until around 4am
and were followed by local police.
Hudson fired shots into the air while being chased and later stopped
his car in the middle of the road and aimed his gun at the pursuing
police and fired in their direction.
After evading the police he dropped Didak in the city.
 Peirce
jailed for stalking, threats against husband's lovers
(Herald Sun)
September 15, 2008
Wendy Peirce used Facebook to tell one of her late husband's lovers that she planned to blow her head
off.
Peirce, 50, of Port Melbourne, was today jailed for six months after
she pleaded guilty to two charges of threatening to inflict serious injury
and one charge of stalking.
The Melbourne Magistrates Court was told that in February Peirce
threatened two women - both former girlfriends of her late husband Victor
Peirce - who was shot dead in Melbourne's underworld war in 2002.
The court was told today that on February 20, one of the women received a
message from Peirce on the social networking website Facebook.
"u fucking maggot, when I get my hands on you, your
fucked u fuckin'
home wrecker, I'll blow your fuckin' head off dog trust me, don't
underestimate me cause I will find you, and when I do it will be worth
doing jail over, u maggot of a thing, Wendy Peirce,'' the message read.
"ps. and don't think for one moment that I haven't forgotten you and
will hunt u down like a mangy maggot that u are. That's not threats,
that's a promise. Wendy Peirce.''
The court also heard Peirce had stalked the second woman by following her
to and from her home and her son's school, and that on February 19 she
sent her a threatening message.
Peirce's lawyer Victor Andreou said she had shown genuine remorse.
"She comes to court today realising her conduct on that day, her
actions on that day, are completely unacceptable,'' Mr Andreou told the
court.
But Magistrate Dan Muling sentenced Peirce to a total of six months' jail
on the three charges, saying the threats she made were "extremely
troubling and outrageous''.
"It shows complete lack of regard for the law, in that the victims in
each case must have been extremely frightened and worried about the
potential,'' Mr Muling said.
Peirce also pleaded guilty to one charge of driving while suspended for
which she was fined $750.
She was taken into custody following the sentencing.
 Viewers not impressed with Underbelly
(Herald Sun)
September 15, 2008
Some Victorian
viewers were left unimpressed with last night's heavily edited Underbelly
- because they'd already seen the uncut version.
Channel 9's hit crime series was
recently given the green light to screen in Victoria after months of legal
wrangling.
A group of viewers last night told the Herald
Sun they were not thrilled by the edited drama because they,
like many others, had seen the entire show before.
Tens of thousands of Australians have
already downloaded Underbelly
illegally from dozens of websites, with just one file-sharing site
posting more than 85,000 downloads of the first two episodes.
The sales of Underbelly box sets
have also been huge, with 265,000 sold outside Victoria.
Marketing consultant Carly Harms, 25, said
she tuned in last night only to see how much of the original had been left
on the cutting room floor.
Ms Harms received the Underbelly
box set as a birthday present from friends interstate last month.
"The original Underbelly has
got to be the best Australian TV show made in a very long time," Ms
Harms said.
"But I heard last night's version had
been drastically changed because of the legal issues, so I just wanted to
see what they came up with."
Her friend B Lococo agreed.
"I couldn't wait to watch the new
edit, but it didn't thrill me at all."
 Cop
faces charges over Hodson evidence
(The Age)
September 11, 2008
The Office of Police Integrity has
recommended criminal charges against several serving officers, as well as
former detective Paul Dale, a suspect
in a double underworld murder.
Perjury, conspiracy to pervert the course
of justice, misconduct in a public office and misleading the Office of
Police Integrity are among the charges the OPI would like to see laid
against the officers.
Charges have also been recommended against
Dale, a former drug squad detective whose corruption case was thrown out
following the 2004 murders of gangland informer Terence
Hodson and his wife, Christine.
Disciplinary action has been recommended
against four officers who have maintained a close relationship with Dale
despite his suspect status.
The recommendations relate to evidence
given to OPI hearings into conduct allegations earlier this year but a
decision whether or not to lay charges will be made by the Director of
Police Prosecutions (DPP).
Dale was the main police contact with Mr
Hodson before the Hodsons were gunned down in their home in their Kew home
on May 16, 2004.
Hodson had agreed to give evidence against
Dale over the alleged attempted theft of $1.3 million worth of ecstasy
pills which resulted in former drug squad detective David Miechel being
jailed.
Dale, who denies any involvement in the
murders, has been accused of leaking a dossier about Hodson's informer
status to a high-profile underworld figure prior to the Hodsons'
execution-style deaths.
In a report, Associations that
compromise Victoria Police - risks and remedies, tabled in State
Parliament today, OPI director Michael Strong outlines the sometimes
inappropriate relationship between police and those with criminals and
makes recommendations on how to deal with these situations.
Mr Strong stresses the importance of an
improper associations policy and does not rule out recommending future
legislation to make it a criminal offence for officers to wilfully fail to
declare a manifestly improper relationship.
Had such a policy already been in place, it
is possible that some of the other police sympathetic to Dale would have
taken the opportunity to reflect on their association with him and seek
advice about what to do.
The report states that Dale manipulated
some of his police friends to progress his personal aims and find out
about a police taskforce set up in April 2007 to investigate the Hodsons'
murders and possible police involvement.
"In doing so, he asked those police to
put loyalty to him above their integrity, and above loyalty to their oath
of office, their police colleagues and ultimately their duty to the
community,'' it says.
The report is critical of the relationship
Dale continues to have with serving police officers, particularly
Flemington Detective Sergeant Dennis Linehan and recommends Sergeant
Linehan, who is currently suspended from the force, face disciplinary
action as well as charges relating to attempting to pervert the course of
justice, misconduct in public office and attempting to mislead the OPI.
Disciplinary action is also recommended
against two other serving police for their relationship with Dale.
 Tram
commuters saw city killer put gun to own head as he fled scene of death
(The Age)
September 2, 2008
Morning commuters on the No. 55 tram saw Christopher
Hudson put a handgun to his jaw in what they believe was an attempt to
kill himself as he fled from a nearby city street where he killed a man
and left two others fighting for their lives.
They told police that Hudson was walking
fast, about 15 metres from their William Street tram, when he turned the
gun on himself about 8.15am on June 18 last year, the Supreme Court heard
yesterday.
"He put the gun underneath his jaw and
I thought he was going to kill himself, then he started shaking his head,
saying no, and put the gun down the front of his pants," one man
said.
But if Hudson was trying to kill himself,
he had no remaining bullets. He had fired all six rounds from his
40-calibre handgun into three people.
Solicitor and father of three Brendan
Keilar, 43, was walking to work along Flinders Lane when he and Dutch
backpacker Paul de Waard, 26, saw Hudson dragging his distraught
girlfriend, Kaera Douglas, away from a taxi by her hair. The two men tried
to intervene by asking Hudson what was going on.
Witnesses described Hudson as calm and
deliberate as he, still holding Ms Douglas by the hair, shot all three
people at close range.
He fired more shots into Mr Keilar and Mr
de Waard after they hit the ground.
A witness said he "just walked away,
and looked casually over his shoulder back at the scene".
Mr Keilar died on the road where he
collapsed.
Mr de Waard was hemorrhaging with wounds to
the chest and abdomen, and still has a bullet lodged in his pelvis. Ms
Douglas was shot in the stomach, and later had a kidney removed.
After he was spotted by commuters on the
tram, closed-circuit television captured Hudson running along Flinders
Street where he removed his black Adidas jacket, wrapped it around his
gun, and threw them into a construction site.
He was last seen on the corner of Flinders
and Elizabeth streets, and remained at large until he gave himself up at
the Wallan police station at 4.20pm on June 20.
Christopher Wayne Hudson, 30, has pleaded
guilty to murdering Mr Keilar and attempting to murder Mr de Waard and Ms
Douglas. He also pleaded guilty to intentionally causing injury to Autumn
Daly-Holt, a stripper at the Spearmint Rhino club in King Street where he
had spent the previous night.
Hudson pleaded guilty to being a prohibited
person in possession of an unauthorised firearm, after a wild night with
Collingwood footballer Alan Didak on June 12 during which he fired shots
from his car as they drove to the Hells Angels' Campbellfield club rooms.
Phil Priest, QC, for Hudson, said his
client was high on a cocktail of the drug ice, alcohol and steroids at the
time of the city shootings.
He carried a handgun for his own protection
after being attacked for defecting from the Finks motorcycle club to the
rival Hells Angels. Hudson was shot in the face and stabbed in the back
simultaneously at a kickboxing match in 2006, he said.
Mr Priest said a "drug-addled"
Hudson attempted to take his own life, as witnessed by commuters on the
tram, because the "enormity of what he'd done must've come home to
him".
In a letter to his lawyers before his
committal hearing in May, Hudson said he intended to plead guilty because
he wanted "to save all the people involved, particularly my victims,
from being asked questions in court and reliving a traumatic time".
Forensic psychologist Dr Jeffrey Cummins
said Hudson was remorseful and embarrassed about what he had done.
Dr Danny Sullivan said Hudson was not
suffering any significant mental disorder.
Brendan Keilar's wife was too traumatised
to provide a victim impact statement to the court.
Prosecutor Ray Elston, SC, called for
Hudson to be jailed for life, with a substantial non-parole period.
Justice Paul Coghlan will sentence Hudson on a date to be fixed.
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