Families watch on as Samantha Murphy’s accused killer opts to fast-track murder trial
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Ballarat

Families watch on as Samantha Murphy’s accused killer opts to fast-track murder trial

Patrick Stephenson will have his trial fast-tracked to the Supreme Court after pleading not guilty to murdering the missing Ballarat mother.

  • byErin Pearson

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Accused arsonist allegedly claimed Burgertory firebombing was linked to Palestine conflict
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Crime

Accused arsonist allegedly claimed Burgertory firebombing was linked to Palestine conflict

The Victoria Police court brief details the claim allegedly made to an undercover officer as the force maintains there was no political or religious link to the fire.

  • byChris Vedelago
‘Free pass for sexually abusive clerics’:Catholic Church not liable,High Court rules

‘Free pass for sexually abusive clerics’:Catholic Church not liable,High Court rules

Attorneys general are being urged to push through new laws after the High Court found religious orders did not have vicarious liability for sexual abuse committed by their clerics.

  • byCameron Houston andHolly Hales
‘Discarded at your will’:Abusive man jailed for stranding wife in Africa

‘Discarded at your will’:Abusive man jailed for stranding wife in Africa

Mohamed Ahmed Omer,who abandoned his wife in Sudan before returning to Australia with their young children,was handed a four-year sentence.

  • byEmily Woods
Ex-Home and Away star spared more jail over stomp attack on woman

Ex-Home and Away star spared more jail over stomp attack on woman

Orpheus Pledger,31,successfully appealed the seven-month prison term he received for the “disturbing” attack in August.

  • byTara Cosoleto
‘Shrouded in mystery’:AFP officer caught with 200 grams of meth avoids jail

‘Shrouded in mystery’:AFP officer caught with 200 grams of meth avoids jail

William Wheatley was a serving AFP officer when in December 2022,he was found with a quantity of methamphetamine 50 times higher than the threshold for trafficking.

  • byErin Pearson
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Cosmetic surgeon who removed teen’s labia makes second payout over botched genital surgery

Cosmetic surgeon who removed teen’s labia makes second payout over botched genital surgery

Dr Asarjahu Granot has been ordered to pay a patient he left disfigured $400,000,as experts warn about the rise of designer vagina surgery and what can go wrong.

  • byCameron Houston andMelissa Cunningham
One man,two ex-wives and the $50m sushi sale that changed everything

One man,two ex-wives and the $50m sushi sale that changed everything

The trio helped make sushi an Aussie lunchtime staple – so how did their intertwined personal and business relations end up frayed – and in court?

  • byTom Cowie andStephen Brook
Escort hacked Medicare to steal $7m,then spent it at Louis Vuitton and Fendi

Escort hacked Medicare to steal $7m,then spent it at Louis Vuitton and Fendi

An elaborate fraud empire using the details of unsuspecting Australians saw hundreds of thousands in taxpayer money spent on luxury goods.

  • byErin Pearson
White supremacist accused of Ku Klux Klan stunt while awaiting jail term for Nazi salute

White supremacist accused of Ku Klux Klan stunt while awaiting jail term for Nazi salute

Jacob Hersant and members of the National Socialist Network allegedly intimidated young women on Halloween despite awaiting sentence for performing the Nazi salute.

  • byErin Pearson
Man who killed two sex workers hours apart to serve seven more years

Man who killed two sex workers hours apart to serve seven more years

Xiaozheng Lin killed the two women in their own homes,but struck a deal to plead guilty to manslaughter. The sentence has been labelled unjust and unfair.

  • byErin Pearson