Social club linked to bent coppers

Social club linked to bent coppers

February 21, 2008

From Sirslackcat

Croatian Club linked to probe
Nick McKenzie
February 21, 2008
A SECRET anti-corruption taskforce examining links between police, criminals and sex workers has raided the Australian Croatian Association as part of inquiries into its president, a long-serving police officer, Tony Juric.
Officers from a joint Victoria Police and Office of Police Integrity taskforce raided the club premises in Footscray last Friday, seizing documents and financial records.
The raids were the first overt move of a long-running investigation into several police with suspected improper associations, including some who have served at inner-city stations.
It is the latest in a string of corruption inquiries to hit the force, from investigations into the former drug squad in 2002-04, two continuing taskforces into police links to underworld murders, and the recent OPI public hearings into the police union chief, Paul Mullett, and a former top officer, Noel Ashby.
Mr Juric, who has been president of the Croatian Social Club since 1995, was suspended from his role as uniform sergeant at the St Kilda police station in October.
He was charged recently over an unrelated matter involving an alleged attempt to cover up a traffic accident involving a police vehicle.
Mr Juric’s links with figures tied to the crime world have caused concern among law enforcement officers.
But supporters of Sergeant Juric say he strongly denies any wrongdoing.
They say and is a popular policeman whose wide network stems from his role as an ethnic community leader, former police union delegate and a former detective in the armed offenders squad.
One of Mr Juric’s closest friends is Tony Ilija Crnac, a building union official who was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in 2001 in a $147 million hashish importation, allegedly tied to the Moran crime family. In a move approved by his superior officers, Sergeant Juric gave character testimony for Mr Crnac during his County Court trial.
Mr Crnac, who was released from prison last year, is an active member of the Croatian Club.
Mr Juric also gave character testimony for a former police officer, Mario Siketa, who was sentenced to one year in prison in September 2006 for receiving $280,000 in secret commissions while working as a private security consultant at the Melbourne Grand Prix.
It is believed Mr Juric’s support in court of Mr Siketa was also approved by senior police.
In a speech at a Croatian community function in 2006, Sergeant Juric thanked the gangland identity and crane company owner Mick Gatto, along with 19 other building industry figures, for providing free materials, labour and equipment to renovate the Croatian association headquarters.
A June 2006 report from The Croatian Herald quoted Sergeant Juric as saying that Mr Gatto’s company was among several whose “work, material and/or financial donations or otherwise, enabled this great project to come to this stage”.
He also thanked Mr Gatto’s business partner in the crane company, Matt Tomas, who is a long-time friend of Mr Juric, and also plays a prominent role in the Croatian community as chairman of the Melbourne Knights Football Club, of which Sergeant Juric is a former board member.
Mr Gatto was cleared of the murder of an underworld hitman in June 2005.
The police facing charges along with Mr Juric in relation to unrelated allegations of covering up a car crash are Senior Constable Belinda Rampal and probationary Constable Alan Black.

Police blunders allowed rapist to escape justice for 16 years

A rapist who carried out a brutal attack on an elderly woman in her own home is facing a life sentence after escaping justice for over 16 years because of a series of police blunders.Wendell Baker’s victim never truly recovered from her ordeal and died more than a decade before he was finally convicted today after standing trial for a second time under changes to the double jeopardy rules.

He was acquitted of the rape in 1999 after a judge ruled that the Metropolitan Police had unlawfully retained a DNA sample from him that linked him to the assault.

This decision was overturned by the Law Lords the following year, and the 800-year-old double jeopardy law, which prevented defendants from being tried twice for the same crime, was modified in 2005.

However, when Scotland Yard detectives reinvestigated Baker’s attack with a view to putting him on trial again, they discovered that they had lost the case files.

It was only by obtaining copies of the documents from his original defence solicitors that they were able to bring a fresh prosecution

Baker, now 56, broke into the home of 66-year-old Hazel Backwell in Stratford, east London, in January 1997.

Demanding money, he tied her up with electrical flex and beat her so viciously that he broke her ribs before raping her and locking her in a cupboard under the stairs.

Miss Backwell could have died if she had not been found 15 hours later by a friend who noticed that her milk was standing uncollected on her doorstep.

She died in 2002 but helped to secure his conviction by giving evidence from beyond the grave.

In a statement read to the court, she said: “I just thought finish it, end it, get out. I just didn't know way was going to happen next. I thought I was going to die.”

An Old Bailey jury unanimously found Baker guilty after deliberating for just over an hour.

Woman killed after 'police blunders'

A woman who killed her mother murdered a stranger in the street following a series of police blunders, a watchdog said today.

Nicola Edgington, 32, made five 999 calls on the day of the attack asking to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act because she believed herself to be a danger.

But hours later she was still at large and took a knife from a butchers shop before she almost decapitated grandmother Sally Hodkin, 58, and attempted to murder Kerry Clark, 22.

The 2011 killing, in Bexleyheath, south-east London, came after Edgington - who now faces life in prison - was released back into the community in 2009.

An investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) found local police in Greenwich were not notified that she was living in the area after an order for her indefinite detention was lifted.

The watchdog also found Met staff failed to carry out a police national computer (PNC) check on Edgington when she made contact with officers on October 10 2011, shortly before the murder.

This would have alerted them to her previous conviction for the manslaughter of her mother in Sussex, the IPCC said.

Hours before she killed, Edgington sought help at a local hospital from where she called 999.

But after delays in admitting her, she walked out.

The IPCC found officers only contacted the hospital following her fourth phone call and said Edgington's second 999 call from the A&E department was downgraded because she was considered to be in a place of safety.

An officer was not dispatched at this stage despite Edgington's claim she could be very dangerous, it found.

IPCC commissioner Sarah Green said it was of "great concern" that police did not carry out a PNC check.

"This tragic case has robbed a family of a much-loved wife, mother, grandmother and friend and my thoughts again go out to Sally Hodkin's family," she said.

"Nicola Edgington had a violent history linked to her mental health problems and was evidently aware that she was a threat to others.

"On Monday 10 October 2011, she made repeated phone calls to police asking to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act and warned officers in person of the risk she posed to those around her.

"While our investigation found that no police officers or staff breached the code of conduct, it is of great concern that no PNC check was carried out which would have immediately alerted them to Edgington's violent history.

"Without this PNC check, both the police and staff at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich were without crucial information which may have influenced their future decisions, increased the urgency of the situation and could have escalated the medical attention she was given."

DHS leak blunder on Ballarat couple as dhs are to blame for many blunders in the system they run they also put children in danger and let the child be in social events with registerd sex offenders you have your say as welike to hear from your bad dealings with dhs

A CONFIDENTIAL report on a couple’s relationship has been leaked to third parties in an embarrassing blunder by the Department of Human Services. can reveal an investigation has been launched into how the “eyes-only” kinship report on the couple’s personal life was copied and sent to family members, solicitors and a member of the public.DHS recently conducted the report as part of the couple’s bid to become legal guardians of a child relative, who is currently in foster care.A victim of the leak said he and his wife were “devastated” by the privacy breach.“That paperwork should never have got out from DHS,” he said.“My family is devastated – there were things in (the report) we didn’t want anyone to see.”The man said his wife was “a mess” for days after the report was leaked on January 30.“It’s gone out to three solicitors, my daughter, her ex-partner and another copy was sent to the courthouse,” he said.“What a disgrace. Someone would have had to make six copies then send it ... these are supposed to be intelligent people (at DHS).”A department spokesman told  that privacy and confidentiality at DHS was considered “paramount”.“This matter is being taken extremely seriously,” the spokesman said. “An investigation is underway into what appears to be an isolated incident where a DHS staff member inadvertently provided documents containing information about a case to several wrong recipients.”The spokesman said training for local DHS staff was conducted last year, but more would be provided in the wake of this case.“Following this incident, privacy guidelines were reissued and further training has been scheduled to remind and further educate staff of their privacy obligations.”The man said he had received “nine or 10” phone calls from a DHS representative in the past week trying to apologise.“They even offered to pay for counselling,” he said. “It’s really affected us and I just want to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

The tax payer is paying for another blunder these two think this car is a four wheel drive and goes in water

This is another big blunder by the police getting bogged up to the front axel