Two aggressive loggers get off with a rap over the knuckles for violently assaulting two community members

 

It was two arrests and two court judgments long delayed - with little in the way of deterrence at the end of proceedings.

News of the Area, 25 June 2023:

Two men appeared in Coffs Harbour Local Court on June 14 in relation to an incident in Wild Cattle Creek State Forest in June 2020.

Michael Luigi Vitali from South Grafton is charged with common assault against local ecologist Mark Graham.

Grafton man Rodney James Hearfield is charged with common assault and assault occasioning bodily harm against Andre Johnston.

Both men pleaded ‘not guilty’ and the matter will be heard next in Coffs Harbour on August 16......

Echo, 16 January 2024:

The Coffs Harbour Local Court has found two forestry workers guilty of assaulting two members of the community on a public road in Wild Cattle Creek State Forest on 25 June 2020.

NSW Upper House Greens MP Sue Higginson reported the guilty finding, which was handed down by the court yesterday, in a press release.

Ms Higginson said the assaults had been recorded on a mobile camera device by a Forestry Corporation Officer.

The two forestry workers were, at the time, employed by logging company Greensill Bros that was contracted by the NSW Forestry Corporation, a state owned corporation.

The forestry workers were not charged immediately following the assault, and one of the victims was instead targeted and charged by the Coffs Harbour Police.

The officer who handled the matter attempted to withhold the video footage of the assaults from the victims and the public, according to Ms Higginson. He is no longer a police officer.

‘Today’s judgement is well overdue and is the end of a harrowing experience for the two victims, Mark Graham and Andre Johnston,’ Ms Higginson said.

‘Mark and Andre were on a public road, in a public forest, when the forestry workers approached, threatened and then assaulted them all while being filmed by an employee of the NSW Forestry Corporation…’

‘The initial investigation into these assaults resulted in the charging of one of the victims, Mark Graham, who is a forest ecologist.

‘The NSW Police, after discussions with the Forestry Corporation charged Mr Graham with approaching forestry operations, those charges were wrongly pressed and were later withdrawn.

‘The fact that Mr Graham was charged for a crime when he was a victim of what the Magistrate described as a violent assault on a public road, in a public forest, and it was captured on video, can only be described as a wilful miscarriage of justice.

The Magistrate noted that the evidence showed the police officer who handled the situation had been helpful to the guilty men and took a serious dislike to the victims of the assaults.

‘The video evidence is confronting and unambiguous.’ Ms Higginson said.

‘Two members of the community, who are acting in a friendly and non-threatening manner, are approached by two agitated and hostile forestry workers who then proceed to assault them, demand their personal property and shout threatening abuse at them.

‘It is gross and brutal and shows the level of impunity that forestry workers are afforded from their actions when the local police then charge the victims of the assault instead of the perpetrators.’

‘It is a good day for justice, as slow and bumpy as this road has been for Mark and Andre. There must be a strong response from the Government.’

Blue Mountains Gazette, 16 January 2024:

The Forestry Corporation is under pressure to blacklist a logging contractor after its workers attacked two environmentalists in a NSW forest.

It's been three-and-a-half years since Mark Graham and Andre Johnston were assaulted on a public road during a day trip to the Wild Cattle Creek State Forest, where logging was under way.

On Monday, the pair got their day in court with a Coffs Harbour magistrate finding two employees of Greensill Bros had committed common assault.

The environmentalists are now demanding Greensill Bros be banned from any further logging work for the NSW government-owned Forestry Corporation.

They also plan to pursue a corruption complaint against the Forestry Corporation, saying one of its direct employees who was overseeing the logging operation filmed the assault but failed to intervene.....

"Immediately following the assault in 2020 neither of the forestry workers were charged and one of the victims was instead targeted and charged by the Coffs Harbour police."

Ms Higginson said the charges were laid after discussions between the police and Forestry Corporation.

Mr Graham has told AAP he was dismissed by police when he went to report the assault in June 2020 and was instead to go and "get a job".

About six months later he was charged with being within 100 metres of logging machinery.

Ms Higginson represented Mr Graham in that matter and has accused police of trying to withhold video evidence of the assaults from both victims, and from the public.

The charge against Mr Graham, of being too close to logging machinery, was eventually dropped in May 2022.....

No convictions were recorded with Michael Luigi Vitali and Rodney James Hearfield both put on 15-month good behaviour bonds.

The Forestry Corporation and Greensill Bros have declined to comment.

AAP has also sought comment from police.

Murray-Darling Basin irrigator has cotton farm asset frozen under Criminal Proceeds Confiscation Act - required to pay back $15.7 million

People living along the major rivers on the NSW Far North Coast, particularly those on the Clarence River, will remember that it was irrigators in southern Queensland as well as other areas within the Murray-Darling Basin who made repeated calls to dam and divert one of more of these coastal rivers to fill heir greedy maws with additional water.

The Courier Mail, 25 January 2019, p.27:

Authorities have gone to court to force an award-winning Queensland cotton farmer to pay $16 million to the state’s Public Trustee after a “covert source” told them the accused water fraudster had sold his farm for more than $100 million.

John Douglas Norman, 43, a former Australian Cotton Farmer Of The Year, from Toobeah in southern Queensland, has been charged with defrauding the Murray-Darling Basin water program of $20 million.

The charges are before the Brisbane Magistrates Court.

Last week the State Government was granted an urgent court order, forcing Norman to pay $15.7 million to the state’s Public Trustee, after the police received a tip that his company had sold its Queensland cotton and grain farms to a global corporate giant.

Norman must pay the $15.7 million once his deal with the $43 billion Canadian giant Manulife Financial Corporation settles, a Supreme Court judge has ruled. The order was made under the Criminal Proceeds Confiscation Act.

The mega-deal was due to settle last week, court documents state. Until the $15.7 million is paid, Norman’s share of the giant farms, west of Goondiwindi, will remain frozen by the Supreme Court.

The remaining share of the business is owned by his mother Aileen Joan Norman. She has not been charged with any crimes and has not had her assets frozen.

The farms, spread over 18,000ha, are mostly irrigated and run along or close to the NSW-Queensland border, the court heard. They are in “a core crop production region” and with “significant water entitlements”.

The farms and a $2 million riverfront Southport mansion, owned by Norman’s wife Virginia, were raided and searched by police during the probe, court documents state.

BACKGROUND

The Land, 30 August 2018:

Meanwhile in Queensland, a major alleged fraud in the cotton industry was uncovered by police, with two executives from Queensland's cotton group Norman Farming charged over an an alleged $20 million fraud involving federal funds earmarked for Murray-Darling water savings.

Norman Farming CEO John Norman, 43, and his chief financial officer Steve Evans, 53, were granted bail after appearing in Brisbane Magistrates Court over the alleged fraud.

Police allege the director of the company submitted fraudulent claims, including falsified invoices related to six water-efficiency projects on a property near Goondiwindi, called Healthy Headwater projects.

Police allege the fraud occurred over seven years.

In NSW, the Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) has issued a number of charges in the north and south-west of NSW for various alleged water offences.

The NRAR is the new independent water regulator in NSW. It started operations on April 30, after an outcry over alleged water deals in northern NSW exposed by the ABC's Four Corners program….

NRAR said it was pursuing the following cases:

● A Moree company has been charged with water theft offences. It is alleged the company, involved in irrigation, took water from a river while metering equipment was not working, an offence against section 91I(2) of the Water Management Act 2000. It is further alleged they constructed and used a channel to convey water without approval.

● A Carinda man has been charged with using a channel to convey water without approval, an offence against s91B of the Water Management Act 2000.

● Two men have been charged with water theft offences on properties in Walgett and Mallowa.

● A 35-year-old man from Carinda in Northern NSW alleged he provided false and misleading information to water investigators.

● Two men have been charged after they allegedly carried out controlled activities on the Murray River near Corowa.

ABC News, 13 February 2018:

The Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) is powerless to prevent upstream farmers harvesting overland floodwaters desperately needed to flow through the river system for the benefit of all users, the authority's head has admitted.

It comes as details emerge of massive earthworks built to enable upstream farmers to carry out "floodplain harvesting"…..

Last week, MDBA head Phillip Glyde travelled to Mr Lamey's farm to see first hand what was happening.

"I've learnt a lot," Mr Glyde told 7.30.

"For people like the Lameys, it's very hard to negotiate through and find what's the best way to make sure the problems they're experiencing don't occur."

Although he admitted floodplain harvesting was a serious issue, he acknowledged there was nothing the authority could do in relation to the approval and regulation of irrigation earthworks.

"There's overlapping responsibilities: local, state, different departments," he said.

"Then you've got the Commonwealth, then you've got the Murray Darling Basin Plan."

On Wednesday, the Senate decides whether to pass a proposed reduction in the amount of water Queensland irrigators give back to the ailing Murray Darling River system.

"We don't want the irrigators to be keeping even more water, we want the banks pulled down in Queensland," Mr Lamey said.

"We want the river to run like it should."

Update on Australian Cardinal George Pell: charged with mulitiple sexual offences by Victoria Police

Australian Cardinal George Pell, currently living and working in the Vatican, has been charged on summons by Victoria Police with multiple serious historical sexual offences.

WATCH the whole press conference where @VictoriaPolice announce Cardinal George Pell has been charged with historical sex offences. pic.twitter.com/kiyGv691Q9

— ABC News (@abcnews) June 29, 2017

 The Australian, 29 June 2017:

No-one with credibility in the church underestimates the damage caused by clergy abuse, a stain that could still be decades from being rubbed out.

This is the broader challenge facing the Catholic hierarchy.

An 18-month or two year court battle, regardless of whether or not it finds in favour of Pell, will mark more lost time as the church tries to deal with the aftermath of the abuse scandal.

This negative publicity will be compounded by the ongoing reporting of the child sex abuse royal commission, which is still to hand down major reports into the Melbourne and Ballarat case studies.

Pell, being the divisive figure that he is and has been, is receiving support from many of his senior peers but the church is also home to many who believe the institution can only move forward when it sees the cardinal’s back.

Perhaps a fairer perspective is to withhold judgment until the evidence is presented to the court.

It’s often been said but it is worth repeating; the least the victims deserve is the truth, which has been in short supply for too long.

BACKGROUND

Further to Cardinal George Pell’s evidence given to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse¹.

The Australian, 16 May 2017:

<

Lawyers representing George Pell have demanded an apology and retraction from Fairfax and The Guardian over articles ­repeating child sexual abuse alle­gations made in a new book ­described by the cardinal as a “character assassination”.

The legal demands were sent to the media outlets at the weekend after a book made a series of allegations against Cardinal Pell over his role in the sex abuse scandal engulfing the Catholic Church…..

MUP chief executive Louise Adler said the publishing house had received letters from Cardinal Pell’s representatives but no legal action had been threatened.

Crikey, 23 May 2017:

George Pell, both the man and his troubles with the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, might be affecting Australia’s representation in the highest council of the Catholic Church, the College of Cardinals — which elects the Pope — given Sydney (and Melbourne) once more missed out in the latest, very eclectic list from Pope Francis.

Seven News, 20 June 2017:

Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton told ABC radio Cardinal Pell's lawyers will be told first, once a decision is made whether to charge him.

"A decision is imminent," Mr Ashton told ABC this morning.

"There is a great deal of public interest in it [the George Pell case].

"We'll get something out soon."

It's the third time Mr Ashton has promised an "imminent" decision on the allegations after police got advice from the state's Director of Public Prosecutions on May 16.

On May 18 Mr Ashton said the process wouldn't take too long, and a decision would be reached within a few weeks.

A week later he told 3AW the decision was not too far off.

"The decision is imminent on that," Mr Ashton said on May 25.

On June 1 he described it as "fairly imminent".

The Australian, 24 June 2017:

Those closest to George Pell are increasingly pessimistic about his chances of avoiding charges over historical child sex abuse ­allegations.

The Weekend Australian has been told by multiple sources that — despite his vehement ­denial of wrongdoing — there is a growing resignation that ­charges will almost certainly be laid, plunging the church into what would be an unprecedented scandal.

The Rule Of Law Institute Of Australia Incorporated (a somewhat obscure not-for-profit organisation registered in June 2010) also offered its mite on the subject in The Australian on 25 June 2017:

Victoria Police has been warned not to charge Cardinal George Pell over alleged child sexual abuse to clear the air, or to stage a show trial in response to intense public interest and anger over clerical sex abuse in general.

Lawyer Robin Speed, president of the Rule of Law Institute of Australia said prosecutors should act against Cardinal Pell only if they were fully satisfied about the quality of the evidence.

“They should not act in response to the baying of a section of the mob,’’ he said…..

Mr Speed said that if the cardinal was charged and found innocent the drawn out conduct of the investigation over two years could warrant a judicial inquiry.

Footnote

1. Cardinal George Pell gave evidence from 29 February 2016 by video link from Rome concerning Case Study 35: Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne and Case Study 28: Catholic Church authorities in Ballarat. Reports on Case Study 28 (Catholic Church authorities in Ballarat) and Case Study 35 (Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne) are yet to be published. 

Not a good look for the O'Farrell Government, Metgasco or ERM Power

 

A $200,000 NSW riot police operation to break an anti-CSG protest at Glenugie may not secure any convictions.

More than 20 protesters were arrested when police broke up a protest in The Avenue at Glenugie on January 1 to allow CSG miner Metgasco's trucks access to a test drilling site.

Three of the protesters facing charges of hindering police, obstructing a driver's path and not complying with police directions were acquitted of all charges yesterday in the Grafton Local Court.

Magistrate David Heilpern found Ingo Andreas Bruno Medek, of Blue Knob, not guilty of hindering police and obstructing a driver in a hearing before lunch.

After the break he dismissed charges against Ian Ronald Gaillard of Keerong and Benjamin Zable, of Nimbin, in a few minutes, sparking some celebrations among supporters outside the court house.

Mr Gaillard said the offences he and Mr Zable were charged with occurred when he disobeyed police instruction to give Mr Zable a bottle of water during the protest.

Outside the court yesterday the pair re-enacted their actions for the benefit of about 20 supporters who turned up for the court case.

Defence solicitors Steve Bolt (for Mr Medek) and Philip Wykeham (for Gaillard and Zabel) said the decision could have major ramifications for two test cases in Maclean Local Court on July 9 and 10.

Mr Wykeham said after the magistrate's ruling yesterday, police commanders will have to make a decision to go ahead with the cases, which are to be used as templates for charges against other CSG protesters arrested at Glenugie.

 

Read the rest of The Daily Examiner article of 8 May 2013 here.

The law makes an ass of itself over Father F.

 

This was published in The Sydney Morning Herald on 18 October 2012:

 

A former NSW priest who allegedly told three senior Catholic clergy a decade ago that he had repeatedly sexually abused children has been charged with 25 child-sex offences relating to three girls.

The 59-year-old was arrested at a home in Armidale this morning, and is expected to face court this afternoon in relation to the charges dating back to the 1970s and '80s.

Following his arrest, police urged anyone with information about an alleged cover-up by the Catholic Church to come forward…….

Father F, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was removed from public ministry after a meeting with three clergy in 1992, following continued allegations of abuse after he was moved from the Armidale diocese to Parramatta.

Readers will notice that for legal reasons the former Catholic priest cannot be named by the media.

 

However, on the very same day, the NSW court system only offered the pretence of a fig leaf to conceal his name in its online lists.

 

I received an email pointing this out to me and I’m sure that it was common knowledge elsewhere by the end of that day as I would not have been the only recipient.

 

Unfortunately, the unthinking court system also listed some other matters associated with these charges in such a way that the three girls (now women) were easily identified.

Saga giving North Coast backpacker hostels a bad name

The rear of the property where council alleges up to 19 occupants were staying – photo by Kate O’Neill

The Northern Star  9 December 2012:

BYRON'S alleged schoolies slum landlord Shai Major was supposed to appear at Byron Local Court yesterday.

Instead he told the court he was working in Brisbane only to be found a short time later at the Jonson Street property that was shut down by council staff last Friday.

EchoNetDaily 13 December 2012:

The alleged ‘schoolie slumlord’ says he is helping young working locals put a roof over their heads.

He has hit back at both Council and media over his recent Council compliance bust but failed to explain why a raid on his leased property on Bangalow Road last week allegedly found 19 people in the house, including eight schoolies.

Council staff told the media the accommodation was unsafe and unsanitary.

Shai Major, former editor and owner of the now defunct Byron Times magazine, is critical of media reports, including in Echonetdaily, for publishing the property address. He claims that since it went to press, negative comments by locals towards tenants of the property have been both unfair and stressful.

Byron Shire Council media release 28 February 2012 :

Council thanks local media for help with legal action

Byron Shire Council is pleased it has been able to work with The Byron Shire Echo newspaper in legal proceedings against a man accused of unlawfully using premises in Byron Bay as a hostel for schoolies.

Council’s Governance Manager, Ralph James, said The Echo helped facilitate confirmation of statements made by Shai Major, the defendant in the "use of premises as a hostel" proceedings, published in The Echo shortly after Council staff executed a search warrant on the Jonson Street property leased by Mr Major.

“As part of its proceedings against Mr Major for unlawful development, Council asked The Echo to produce documents regarding correspondence between it and Mr Major, after Mr Major made public comments that were published in the paper relevant to the case against him,” Mr James said.

“Council was not seeking any information beyond confirmation that what Mr Major told The Echo was in fact an accurate reporting of his views.

“It is important to note that given the source of the material, Mr Major’s identity was not confidential, the legal protections which allow journalists to protect their sources were not invoked in this case.”

Mr James said that prior to court proceedings last week (Friday, 24 February 2012) he was asked by The Echo’s lawyer whether council would be satisfied with a statement from Mr Major confirming authorship of the remarks attributed to him and confirming the accuracy of the reporting in The Echo article.

“The original subpoena issued by council was aimed at obtaining first hand evidence, namely, an admission, from Mr Major that he was the author of the public comments attributed to him,” he said.

“The proposal put forward last week prior to the court hearing by Mr Major and The Echo’s solicitor achieved that aim.

“On that basis I indicated that such a statement would obviate the need to call on the subpoena because if council had the information from Mr Major first hand it would no longer have a legitimate forensic purpose in pursuing the information from The Echo.

“The Echo’s lawyer, The Echo’s editor, and Mr Major then went into a conference and the solicitor shortly thereafter confirmed to me that Mr Major would make a statement confirming the accuracy of the reported comments.

“After further negotiation, a statement drafted by council was signed by Mr Major and witnessed by The Echo's lawyer. At all times Mr Major appeared to be in contact with The Echo’s lawyer and editor.”

Mr James said The Echo’s cooperation in assisting Mr Major prevented the need for further legal proceedings by Council.

“The statement which The Echo helped facilitate had the effect of releasing The Echo from arguing the subpoena whilst at the same time providing council with the information it sought,” he said.

“We appreciate the role The Echo played in helping facilitate Mr Major’s statement.

“Their role will help Council in its case against Mr Major for the unlawful actions Council alleges he undertook last year by using his residential premises as a hostel for which development consent was not sought nor obtained.

“Council is committed to ensuring residential premises are used within the limits of the law, and it will not stand by while people take advantage of visitors and negatively impact resident amenity in the name of making a quick buck.

“Council also has an obligation to protect public health and safety, as well as the interests of legitimate business who operate with development consent.”

Media contact:

Media Communication Officer
Byron Shire Council
Ph: 02 6626 7320

EchoNetDaily  20 January 2012:

Shai Major, the so-called ‘schoolies slumlord’, has failed for a second time to appear at Byron Bay Local Court to face charges of development without consent. He is believed to have left the country for a holiday in Israel, forcing the case to be held over again until 24 February.

The Northern Star  20 January 2012:

BYRON Bay's so-called 'schoolies slum landlord' has skipped the country, failing for the second time to appear in court to answer charges of operating an illegal backpacker hostel.

It is alleged Shai Major charged naive schoolies and backpackers exorbitant amounts of money to sleep in squalid conditions at a dilapidated residential property he was renting at 139 Jonson St, Byron Bay.

Byron Shire Council alleges Mr Major, an Israeli national, was exploiting the holidaymakers by charging them up to $800 a week to live in the unhygienic and overcrowded conditions.

Council staff have taken the unusual step of also charging the owner of the property, Fletcher Jonson Pty Ltd, under the same offence, alleging the company was aware the property was being used as illegal holiday accommodation.

When police and council officers raided the property on December 2, 2011, they found 18 people, including eight schoolies and 10 backpackers, crammed into the property.

Some of the occupants had been sleeping in the backyard, while others slept on mattresses in a garage that council officers said was as an asbestos risk.

25 February 2012:

THE EDITOR of the Byron Shire Echo, Hans Lovejoy, has avoided being compelled to produce his journalistic notes in court.

Byron Shire Council had issued a subpoena calling for Mr Lovejoy to produce email exchanges between himself and the man accused of running an illegal backpackers hostel, Shai Major.

The emails related to an article Mr Lovejoy published on December 13, 2011, titled 'Slumlord' says he's helping locals'.

But the subpoena against Mr Lovejoy was withdrawn outside court yesterday when Mr Major signed an undertaking that the quotes attributed to him in the article were correct.

25 February 2012:

BYRON Bay's so-called 'slum landlord', Shai Major, has pleaded not guilty to running an illegal backpackers hostel on the town's main street.

Mr Major appeared in Byron Bay court yesterday in sneakers and a T-shirt before Magistrate Michael Dakin......

The same charge against the owner of the property, Fletcher Jonson Pty Ltd, was withdrawn and dismissed as the owner signed an undertaking about future use of the property.

EchoNetDaily 3 April 2012:

Supboenas have been handed to both the Northern Star newspaper and Byron Shire Council by the man accused of running an illegal hostel in Byron Bay last December.

Shai Major, who is representing himself, faced court again last Friday but the matter was adjourned after Council’s lawyers sought more time to be provided with information requested by a subpoena.

Additionally, Council have requested the court change the charge of ‘operate a backpackers hostel without development consent’ to ‘use of premises as a hostel without development consent’.

When the magistrate asked Mr Major if he agreed to to the charge being renamed, he replied that he did not have the legal advice or knowledge to respond.

After the adjournment, Council’s prosecutor Ralph James asked for a colleague to provide free legal advice to Mr Major.

Mr James told The Echo there is no change to the charge or possible fine other than the name ‘backpackers’ being dropped.

‘The charge of ‘hostel’ remains, which is defined under the Local Environmental Plan (LEP),’ he told The Echo……

Mr Major told The Echo, ‘I have put forward these subpoenas to further investigate my allegations of Council’s attempts to interfere with the proper conduct of this trial via a “sub judice” smear-campaign that has been professionally orchestrated in order to get me judged in the media prior to my case appearing in court.

‘I am sad to think that if the Council will win in this case with their authoritarian, big-brother approach to micro-manage our life-styles, that anyone living in a share-house in our beautiful shire will be living in fear of having their house raided – their house-mates interrogated and intimidated – and prosecuted as a criminal.  

Byron Shire News on 12 April 2012:

ABBIE Hoffman used to boast about the size of his subpoenas. Now the old Yippie (a politically active hippie, for those who don't remember the 60s) has a rival in the claims of litigious largeness. Shai Major, the so-called "slum landlord" accused of running a hostel without approval, has subpoenaed The Northern Star, Byron Shire Council (for a copy of the media release and photos, the full brief of evidence and other material which council maintains is privileged) and most recently, the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The Scout will refrain from commenting on the nuisance and cost of Mr Major's legal efforts, in order to avoid being on the receiving end of one of his far-reaching subpoenas.

'It is sobering looking through court lists'

A visit to a local court is not something most people have on the 'List of things to do' that's sitting under a magnet on the door of their fridge, but as pointed out in the editorial of today's Daily Examiner that's where a lot of action is really happening.

Most people travel past court houses and are totally ignorant of them. Others go by and remark about their appearance, especially those constructed in the 1800s; their design and workmanship provide evidence that the character of buildings really meant something and they were not just functional constructions of the type built in more recent times.

Again, most people have never been inside a local court and examined what they look like - there are some real charmers.

However, apart from their appearances it's the workings of a local court that most people have little or no idea about.

Readers of local papers, like the Daily Examiner, are provided with reports on court proceedings such as who did what and the penalty the court imposed. Naturally enough, local papers cannot report on every matter heard in local courts. It's usually only the big matters that are of substantial public interest that get a guernsey.  

The Examiner does a good job with the resources it has - reports are factual and objective, but space restrictions limit how much can be reported.

Today's Examiner highlights the types of matters that are occupying a good deal of court time. Apprehended violence orders (AVOs) and drink/driving top the list.
 

Click on image to enlarge to full article