ntnews.com.aul l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l NEWS
Course
in croc
catching
A COURSE in saltwater
crocodile catching is now
being offered to men and
women across the country.
But only six applicants
will be selected to take part
in the intense five-week
training course which will
be made into a ABC documentary series called Croc
College.
Led by Queensland croc
legend John Lever, the
students will be taught how
to restrain large crocodiles,
safely raid nests, treat sick
crocodiles and to interpret
their behaviour.
ABC TV’s Head of Factual Jennifer Collins said:
‘‘Once you’ve tackled a
fully grown salty, I can imagine you’d be ready to tackle anything that comes
your way.’’
The project aims to collect and store sperm from
wild, male crocodiles
caught in the Northern
Territory in an effort to artificially inseminate female
crocodiles on Mr Lever’s
Queensland farm.
No apologies for
builder’s clients
Driver’s
costly
‘mistake’
Businessman Tony Whear outside court after charges against him were dropped last week
By NIGEL ADLAM
A BUSINESSMAN with connections to the Hells Angels
yesterday shrugged off complaints he had left a family
with a half-built house.
Tony Whear, 36, said he
didn’t care what people
thought about him.
He said the $430,000 property was being built by Eco
Housing, a company that
had gone into liquidation.
‘‘It’s got nothing to do with
me. It’s not my company.’’
But Mr Whear later admitted
that he was Eco Housing’s
majority shareholder and
had personally dealt with
debtors.
Katherine Community Radio station manager Jon
Raynor and his wife Annette
paid the company for the
three-bedroom house to be
built to lock-up stage.
But they told the NT News
that the roof, doors and windows hadn’t been fitted.
Mr Raynor said dealing
with Mr Whear’s company
had been a ‘‘nightmare’’.
‘‘It makes me very angry,’’
he said. ‘‘We’ve heard nothing from them for months.’’
Eco Housing and other
companies controlled by Mr
Whear owe money to Darwin
and Katherine businesses.
Craig and Paula Hohn, of
Katherine’s Hohn Metaland,
said they were owed more
than $11,000 for materials.
They were owed more
but went to a building site
to take back some of
their goods.
And Glen Miller, of
GM Plumbing, said he was
owed $5500.
The Director of Public
Prosecutions last week
dropped charges against
Mr Whear that he was an accessory after the fact to the
hit-and-run death of Levi
‘‘Leafy’’ Griffiths as there
was not enough evidence
to proceed.
‘‘It is absolutely police harassment,’’ Mr Whear said.
‘‘They never had anything in
the first place.’’
He said his family raised
$10,000 for bail and thousands of dollars more was
spent on lawyers.
He now wants to sue police
for damage to his reputation.
Mr Whear’s employee,
Nicholas Frank Cassidy, is a
member of the Hells Angels,
and has been charged over
Mr Griffiths’ death.
Darwin theft
Health grants Bash charge
POLICE need help to find
two men who targeted a sex
shop and massage parlour
in Darwin’s CBD.
One man repeatedly
punched a female worker,
50, in the face at Li Li Massage Centre, on Edmunds St,
demanding money about
6.30pm on Saturday.
A second man entered The
Love Shop, also on Edmunds
St, earlier that evening but
walked away empty handed.
The first man is described
TERRITORY researchers
have won more than $17
million in grants through a
national initiative.
The National Health and
Medical Research Council
awarded 17 grants —
valued at $17.6 million — to
the Menzies School of
Health Research.
More than 60 per cent of
Territory grant applications were selected for
funding — a higher success
rate than other states and
www.ntnews.com.au
as Caucasian, 20 to 24 years
old, about 165cm tall, slim
build, clean shaven and
with short, light-browncoloured hair.
The second man is described as Aboriginal, 20 to
24 years old, about 168cm
tall and of medium to
chubby build.
Police
urge
anyone
who may have witnessed
any suspicious behaviour
in the area to phone 131 444
or 1800 333 000.
territories. Menzies researcher Professor Ross
Andrews received $2.5 million to determine whether
babies are protected if their
mother has a flu vaccination during pregnancy.
School director Professor
Jonathan Carapetis said
the funding went to four fellowships and other research projects.
More than 1100 research
projects were given funding
as part of the initiative.
A MAN has been committed
to stand trial in the Supreme
Court for allegedly bashing
a Darwin store owner and
stealing more than $2000
during a robbery.
Shane Noble, 19, appeared
in Darwin Magistrates
Court charged over the
alleged robbery of the Douglas St Supermarket in Parap
on June 30.
His lawyer, Fiona Kepert,
told
magistrate
John
Lowndes that Noble is ex-
pected to plead guilty in the
NT Supreme Court.
Prosecutor Sandy Lau
said Noble was identified as
one of three alleged offenders by a photo board
and admissions by one of his
alleged co-offenders.
Two other men, John
Wheeler and Russell Standley Williams, will appear in
Darwin Magistrates Court
next week.
Noble will appear in a
higher court in December.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011. NT NEWS.
7
PUB:
A MAN caught driving ‘‘erratically’’ in Darwin with
four times the legal alcohol
limit was fined more than
$1000 yesterday.
Spencer Smith pleaded
guilty in Darwin Magistrates Court to high-range
drink-driving, speeding
and careless driving.
Prosecutor Sergeant Andrew Dudley told magistrate Tanya Fong Lim
Smith was seen ‘‘narrowly
avoiding a collision’’ by police at the McMillans Rd
turn-off on Bagot Rd.
Sgt Dudley said Smith
was detected driving at
30km/h over the speed
limit before being pulled
over by police in Jingili. He
returned a blood alcohol
concentration of 0.201
per cent.
Smith told the court he
had made a ‘‘big mistake’’
and had no excuses. ‘‘I did
not have my wits about
me,’’ he said.
Ms Fong Lim fined Smith
$1200 plus l $160 for costs
and disqualified him from
driving for 12 months.
WSNE7NT
GE:
18-O
TE:
R:
LOK
MDA
CY
C