NATION
Dr Death given 7 years
Some patients despair over light jail sentence
BRISBANE: The surgeon dubbed
Dr Death could walk free in
as little as three and a half
years, sparking despair among
some patients who suffered at
his hands.
Brisbane Supreme Court Justice
John Byrne sentenced Patel to
seven years’ jail for each of three
manslaughter charges, and three
years for one count of causing
grievous bodily harm.
The sentences are to be served
Former Bundaberg surgeon
Jayant Patel was sentenced yester- concurrently, meaning Patel will be
day to seven years’ jail for killing eligible for parole after serving just
three patients and permanently three-and-a-half years.
The sentence sparked anger
injuring a fourth.
among some Patel patients, while
others were jubilant, calling it
the icing on the cake of Patel’s
convictions handed down by a jury
on Tuesday.
The state opposition immediately
called on Attorney-General
Cameron Dick to appeal the sentence, calling it manifestly inadequate and far from what the community would expect.
A spokesman for Mr Dick said he
had no comment.
Judy Kemps, who lost her husband Gerry Kemps after Patel operated on him, said it was just fine by
her that Patel would spend years
behind bars.
‘‘I’m very happy with the outcome. You couldn’t have wished for
better,’’ she said. ‘‘For me the
conviction was the main thing.’’
Mining deal close
Policeman accused
SYDNEY: A senior constable in
NSW facing a sexual abuse
charge has been accused of
abusing a second victim 16
years ago.
The police officer was
suspended from duty last
month when he was arrested
over the sexual assault of a
nine-year-old girl.
But he was arrested for a
second time shortly after 11am
(AEST) yesterday over a second
alleged assault in 1996.
Chinese apple threat
CANBERRA: Australia’s apple
growers are angry authorities
have allowed Chinese imports
while an inquiry into the risks
is still under way.
The Australian Quarantine
and Inspection Service (AQIS)
announced on Wednesday that
Chinese apples could come to
Australia under strict
conditions. But apple growers
were outraged by the decision,
saying it leaves Australia
exposed to a Chinese fruit fly,
Drosophila suzukii.
Tot falls from train
BRISBANE: A Far North
Queensland toddler has broken
her collarbone after falling from
a moving train.
The three-year-old girl landed
on the tracks at about 3.35pm
(AEST) on Wednesday.
Another child alerted their
father and he stopped the train
with the safety chain 2km from
Kuranda Railway Station,
north of Cairns.
Despicable pervert guilty
SYDNEY: David Shane Whitby
was naked as he turned directly
to the camera and in a childlike voice boasted: ‘‘I love to
molest children.’’
His confessional video was part
of the Sydney disc jockey’s horrific collection, which depicted him
sexually abusing eight children,
including a screaming baby, over
a 10-year period.
Despite the 56-year-old’s contention that a look-alike acquaintance
was the culprit, Judge Peter
Berman has concluded Whitby is
the man depicted in the videos.
The NSW District Court judge,
who heard the trial without a jury,
found Whitby guilty of 120
sex offences.
Sentencing submissions will
take place in September.
Fine for setting teen alight
MELBOURNE: A Yarra Valley man was
convicted yesterday for setting an apprentice
alight in a sickening workplace attack.
Matthew Lever (pictured), 23, was one of
three apprentices who sprayed brake cleaner
on fellow diesel mechanic apprentice Daniel
Bridgborn ‘‘for a laugh’’.
The Ringwood Magistrates’ Court heard the
victim, who was 17 at the time, spent a week at
The Alfred hospital burns unit.
Magistrate Kate Hawkins convicted Lever
and fined him $5000 plus $1000 in legal costs.
Three nabbed in dawn raid
MELBOURNE: Three members of
an alleged Melbourne crime family have been arrested in relation
to the drive-by shooting of a
teenager, after early morning police raids yesterday.
Family members and friends
clashed with police before
Macchour Chaouk, aged 64, and
two of his sons, Omar and Waleed,
were arrested on alleged weapons,
drugs and fraud offences. One of
the sons clashed repeatedly with a
plainclothes policewoman, abusing and threatening to assault her.
The family’s hostility towards
police goes back to the fatal shooting of another son by a police
officer during a raid in 2005.
The raid was in response to the
shooting on June 6 of 18-year-old
Sam Haddara.
BY ORDER OF
THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA
On 01/07/2010, the Federal Court of Australia declared that Alvaton Pty Ltd
trading as Cut Price Imports (CPI) had engaged in conduct that contravened
the Trade Practices Act 1974 (TPA) when it supplied products that did not
comply with a prescribed consumer product safety standard.
Following proceedings commenced by the Australian Competition and
Consumer Commission (ACCC), the Federal Court has declared that, CPI
contravened section 65C of TPA when it supplied 780 Bao Bei (Zhiyue) key
rattles item code: TOY9206 (Key Rattles) and 9366 Smile Bear (Bear with
Keys) baby rattles item code: TOY9201 (Smile Bear Rattles) to retailers for
sale to consumers, in circumstances where the Key Rattles and Smile Bear
Rattles did not comply with the prescribed as a consumer product safety
standard AS/NZS ISO-8124-1:2002 Safety of Toys Part 1 (Standard).
Tests conducted on both rattles revealed that they were found to contain
parts constituting a choking and suffocation hazard. The Key Rattle was also
found to break apart causing an inhalation/ingestion hazard.
The Key Rattles were supplied to retail outlets in Australia between April
2009 and August 2009. The Smile Bear Rattles were supplied to retail
outlets
in Australia between April 2006 and September 2009. Both products were
later recalled from the market.
CPI was ordered to institute a Trade Practices Act compliance programme,
pay ACCC costs, and to publish this notice.
Consumers should immediately remove either rattle from young children and
return the product to its place of purchase for a full refund. For further
information please telephone CPI on (08) 9470 9322.
This advertisement has been paid for by CPI.
www.ntnews.com.au
er010504/10
Northern Territory News, Friday, July 2, 2010 — 11
C M YK
PAGE: 11 COLOR:
MELBOURNE: It’s fair to say
the Revolutionary Socialist
Party doesn’t have a huge
presence in Canberra.
But it has taken the strategic
step of putting up Kevin Rudd’s
nephew to run against new
prime minister Julia Gillard in
her safe Labor seat of Lalor.
Van Thanh Rudd, 37, is the
son of Kevin Rudd’s older
brother Malcolm and a
Vietnamese mother.
He says he’s not afraid of
using his family connection.
SYDNEY: Rescue workers will
resume their search today for an
Estonian backpacker missing
from a Sydney beach.
The belongings of Pirjo Kukk,
28, were found by lifeguards on
Elouera Beach at Cronulla in the
city’s south on Wednesday.
Ms Kukk, who had been camping at the beach, has not been seen
since Tuesday.
An air, land and sea search was
launched yesterday between
Kurnell and Port Hacking.
Police were looking at a number
of scenarios, including the possibility Pirjo was unaware she had
been reported missing.
‘‘There is also the possibility
that she has gone for a walk or
swim and got into difficulty or
that she might have met with foul
play,’’ said Acting Superintendent
Jenny Hayes.
The search was called off yesterON THE LOOKOUT: Police in Sydney’s south yesterday stepped up their search for Estonian backpacker day afternoon and was scheduled
Pirjo Kukk (inset), who disappeared while camping on a Cronulla beach
to resume this morning.
DATE: 2-JUL-2010
Rudd to run for Lalor
Search on
for missing
backpacker
PUB: NT NEWS
CANBERRA: Julia Gillard
looks set to announce a deal
with miners on the resources
tax as early as today, ending a
two-month fight that threatened
Labor’s re-election chances.
The prime minister spent
yesterday attending the funeral
of fallen soldier Ben Chuck in
north Queensland as her deputy
Wayne Swan and Resources
Minister Martin Ferguson were
in Canberra finalising
negotiations with BHP Billiton,
Rio Tinto and Xstrata.
The government is
understood to have offered
concessions to the mining
industry as Ms Gillard strives
to have a deal ready.
RELIEF: Ex-patient Beryl Crosby
(right), and Judy Kemps, wife of
victim Gerry, are pleased with the
result of the Jayant Patel trial