NEWS

Charges against organisers of Melbourne’s Black Lives Matter march to be dropped

Organisers of a Black Lives Matter rally held in Melbourne during COVID-19 lockdown restrictions will no longer face prosecution, with all charges against them expected to be dropped by Victoria Police.

‘They never had the power to be police’: Defence lawyers scramble to identify cases [The Age]

Defence lawyers are scrambling to identify potentially thousands of cases involving Victorian police, who never had the power to act as officers, following an error that the government says will be fixed with retrospective legislation.

‘Out of step’ IBAC failing to act on police violence, says lawyer [The Age]

The state’s corruption watchdog has been accused of failing to act on police brutality, after clearing officers who stomped on the head of a mentally ill man and struck him with a police car outside a Melbourne hospital last year.

Policeman charged over leaked video of woman he stopped for speeding [The Age]

A Melbourne policeman has been charged with three counts of unauthorised disclosure of police information after allegedly sharing video footage of a friend’s former partner after he pulled her over for speeding. The woman’s lawyer, Jeremy King, said his client planned to launch civil action on the basis of malfeasance in public office.

After less than a week in police custody, Sony was rendered a quadriplegic [The Age]

Six days after being taken into police custody, Aboriginal man Sony Ray Austin’s spinal cord was severed and he was rendered a quadriplegic. Sony’s injury is the basis of a lawsuit brought by firm Robinson Gill, which often represents people injured during interactions with police.

‘He can’t breathe’: The troubled life and tragic death of Danny Richards [The Age]

State Coroner John Cain’s inquest into Mr Richards’ death in custody has allowed The Age to piece together his final moments, who was in charge of the 48-year-old’s welfare and how he came to die in the hands of those called to help.