Rayney's career on hold during appeal

Llod Rayney has temporarily stopped practising law until an appeal against his acquittal for murder is heard. Source: PerthNow

PROMINENT barrister Lloyd Rayney has decided to temporarily stop practising law as prosecutors appeal his acquittal for the murder of his wife.

The Legal Practice Board of Western Australia today released a statement saying: "Lloyd Rayney has provided an undertaking to the Legal Practice Board that he has ceased engaging in legal practice, and that he will not recommence to engage in legal practice without first giving the Legal Practice Board 42 days of his intention to do so."

A spokeswoman said no further comment would be made by the board.

Mr Rayney was found not guilty of the wilful murder of his wife, Supreme Court registrar Corryn Rayney, in November following a highly-publicised Supreme Court trial.

The case was heard before former Northern Territory chief justice Brian Martin, who found that Mrs Rayney was attacked outside her home before being buried head-first in a grave at Kings Park in 2007.

Mr Rayney, who was granted bail in 2010 after spending just two weeks in jail following his arrest on the murder charge, had continued to practice law up until his trial, but a restriction placed on him by the Legal Practice Board of WA barred him from appearing before a jury.

The NSW Director of Public Prosecutions is appealing Mr Rayney's aquittal.

A Supreme Court spokeswoman said the draft grounds of the appeal were:

* The trial judge erred in law in failing to apply the principles enunciated in R v Hillier (2007) 228 CLR 618 in relation to the assessment of circumstantial evidence in that his Honour assessed the circumstances in a piecemeal and sequential manner and failed to consider the circumstances as a whole.

* The trial judge erred in law in finding that the fact that the deceased was attacked at, or in the near vicinity of her house, did not alone establish guilt, for the nature of the circumstantial case was that no fact alone established guilt.

* The trial judge erred in law in concluding that the finding of the respondent's dinner place card near the burial site did not prove guilt for the significance of that fact was not assessed together with the other circumstances, in particular, it was not assessed together with the accepted fact that the deceased had been attacked at or near her home.

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Petrol price hike ahead of silly season

PERTH motorists have their last chance to fill up today before a Christmas fuel hike.

FuelWatch advises that most petrol stations are expected to hike up their ULP price over 140 cents per litre.

Caltex sites will hit 145c, while Caltex Woolworths, Coles Express, Gull and Peak will charge 144.9c from tomorrow.

The average metropolitan price for ULP will be 143.2c, but about 60 Perth sites will sell below 140c.

FuelWatch recommends filling up today and paying no more than 133.8 cents per litre.

Today's cheapest petrol is 129.9c at Peak Glen Forrest, Gull El Caballo Roadhouse, Gull Causeway in Victoria Park, Gull Atwell, and Gull Yokine.

Tomrrow's cheapest ULP will be available for:
* 132.9c at Better Choice Stratton and Better Choice Roleystone

* 129.8c at Caltex Woolworths South Lake, Caltex Woolworths Canning Vale, Caltex Woolworths Whiftords, and Caltex Woolworths Clarkson.

Tomorrow's average metro price for LPG will be 81.3c per litre.

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Weather to hit 40C on Christmas Day

SIZZLING: Perth beaches will be a popular option for thousands of families on Christmas Day with an expected maximum of 38C.  Source: Herald Sun

KEEPING with tradition in the West, the weather gods have again planned a Christmas Day scorcher, with a revised forecast tipping a high of 40C.

The Bureau of Meteorology's week forecast to Boxing Day is consistent with predictions of a warm summer for western parts of WA.

The week leading up to Santa's touchdown will be mostly sunny, with several days in the 30s and a cool change over the weekend.

On Christmas Eve, the mercury will hit a max of 33C, while Boxing Day is set to be a sweltering 39C.

The hottest Christmas Day in Perth on record was 42C in 1968, while the chilliest was 19.7C in 1945.

The average Christmas Day temperature is 32C.
 
 
TOMORROW'S FORECAST
Min 17
Max 34
Sunny.
 
FRIDAY
Min 18

Max 29
Mostly sunny.
 
SATURDAY
Min 16
Max 25
Partly cloudy.
 
SUNDAY
Min 16
Max 26
Mostly sunny.
 
MONDAY
Min 15
Max 33
Sunny.
 
CHRISTMAS DAY
Min 20
Max 40
Sunny.
 
BOXING DAY
Min 22
Max 39
Sunny.

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Victim named as murder probe continues

A truck driver has found a woman's body in Maddington, sparking a murder investigation.

GRIM TASK: Police have returned to the dead woman's Maylands flat early today. Picture: Kerris Berrington Source: PerthNow

POLICE have released the name of a woman found dead in Maddington yesterday as they continue to question a man over the gruesome find.

Police have named the victim as 51-year-old Maylands woman Tracey Jane Holloway.

Ms Holloway's body was found opposite a factory at the end of a cul-de-sac on Valencia Way around 6.30am yesterday and police have confirmed they are treating her death as a homicide.

A team of police officers, including Major Crime Squad and forensic officers, are at the scene, although police do not believe the 51-year-old died where she was found.

"Detectives are investigating the woman's death as a homicide," a police spokeswoman said yesterday.

A 57-year-old man from Kelmscott is currently assisting police with their inquires into the matter.

No charges have been laid.

Police are continuing to investigate several sites of interest in relation to the incident.

Police are asking anyone who may have information that can assist with their inquiries to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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AFP raids Sage offices, house

Businessman and Perth Glory owner Tony Sage in his West Leederville office. The offices of Sage's Cape Lambert Resources were today raided by AFP officers. Picture: Richard Polden Source: PerthNow

THE offices of companies associated with Perth Glory owner Tony Sage have been raided by Australian Federal Police officers.

The West Leederville building containing the Glory's offices, as well as offices for the mining company Cape Lambert Resources, of which Mr Sage is executive chairman, were targeted by the officers in an operation lasting several hours.

In response to questions about Mr Sage, an AFP spokesman said several search warrants were executed on commercial and residential premises in Perth and Sydney today.

"The activity is part of an ongoing investigation in partnership with a number of Commonwealth agencies including the ... ATO (Australian Tax Office) and ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission)," he said.

"The  investigation is ongoing, therefore it is not appropriate to make any further comment at this point in time."

Mr Sage's home was also searched as part of the raids.

This follows a report by The Sunday Times on December 9, which revealed Mr Sage was having his personal tax affairs checked by the ATO.

At the time, the local multimillionaire, whose company Cape Lambert has already been slugged with a $95 million tax bill, emphasised he was "not being singled out'' by the ATO and was just one of 2000 company directors being examined.

"I've been told there are 2000 people and the tax office is going through every annual report, from 2007, 8, 9, 10, with every single director and consultant, in every company in Australia, where people received options in a company, and they're doing a review on all of them,'' he said on December 8.

"I've received no amended assessment, I received nothing from the tax office ... since we found out in April this year that I was being examined.''

Mr Sage said he had been told that because of a backlog it might take 18 months before there was an outcome.

"I can give you 10 names ... that are getting the same thing done and they are a lot more high-profile than I am,'' he said.

At the time, Mr Sage conceded he was stressed about the $95 million tax bill that centres on Cape Lambert's $400 million sale of its namesake Pilbara magnetite project to Metallurgical Corp of China, and its subsequent purchase of the assets of the collapsed group CopperCo.

"We had a meeting Thursday (December 6) with the tax office and we have a very strong argument,'' he said.

"Cape Lambert will fight this to the end.''

He said the ATO had been involved in a "spate of settlements'' with clients in recent months, which he thought was the result of pressure by the Gillard Government to quickly gather revenue to get its budget into surplus.

An ATO spokeswoman was unable to comment or confirm audits because of the Income Tax Assessment Act's confidentiality provisions.

A spokeswoman for Cape Lambert Resources declined to comment about today's raid.
 

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WA man faces jail over drunken flight abuse

WILD: A drunken WA man is facing up to 10 years jail after abusing and spitting at air flight attendants on a flight from Sydney to Japan. Source: Supplied

AN international flight was diverted after a drunken Perth man allegedly tried to smoke a cigarette on the plane before punching and spitting on crew members.

The 34-year-old man was taken off the flight, enroute from Sydney to Japan on Monday night, when it was diverted to Cairns.

Australian Federal Police (AFP) allege the man was heavily intoxicated and was abusive towards the crew and other passengers.

He had to be forcibly restrained by the crew and was arrested when the plane landed in Cairns, police said.

Assistant commissioner Shane Connelly said the public needed to remember that when they travelled on an aircraft their behaviour was subject to Australian laws.

``Enough is enough. An aircraft captain and co-pilot can ill-afford to be distracted from their duties of safely flying an aircraft by having to deal with drunk, violent or disorderly passengers,'' he said.

``The cabin crew are there to make your flight safe and enjoyable.

``They should not have to restrain violent passengers, be abused or assaulted, or be interfered with in conducting their duties.''

AFP responded to more than 1000 alcohol-related incidents at Australia's 10 major airports during the 2011-12 financial year.

Out of those incidents, 145 were for offences related to offensive and disorderly behaviour and excessive alcohol consumption.

AFP said the plane was forced to dump its fuel load when it diverted to Cairns and the airline would seek to recover significant costs.

The man was due to face Cairns Magistrate Court on Tuesday charged with smoking in an aircraft, disorderly and offensive behaviour on board an aircraft, and interfering with crew or aircraft.

The offences carry a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment.

He will also be charged with assaulting crew general, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment.

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Woodside project gets environmental nod

A whale swims at James Price Point, where Woodside has just won environmental approval for its LNG plant. Photo: Jenita Enevoldsen Source: PerthNow

WOODSIDE'S controversial liquefied natural gas plant at James Price Point has cleared another regulatory hurdle.

Environmental Protection Authority chairman Paul Vogel announced today that the company's 25 million tonne a year plant fit within the footprint of the strategic proposal already approved by the State Government.

Earlier this year Environment Minister Bill Marmion gave environmental approval to the Browse LNG precinct 60 kilometres from Broome that could produce up to 50 million tonnes a year.

That proposal already took into account multiple LNG users and their environmental impacts - so Woodside's plant would be subject to the same conditions, Mr Vogel said.

"Following rigorous evaluation of Woodside's proposal, no new environmental issues were raised that had not been adequately addressed in the strategic proposal nor was there any significant new or additional information that justifies reassessment," he said.

However the project still needs the Federal Government's rubber stamp.

Woodside welcomed today's decision and reconfirmed it planned to make a final investment decision in the first half of 2013.

The EPA received 1800 pubic comments during the comment period.

Wilderness Society spokeswoman Heidi Nore criticised the EPA for taking less than two weeks to examine the submissions.

"We can see the EPA has completely overlooked major issues such as groundwater use and dredging," she said.

"These issues have never been adequately assessed.

"The EPA has improperly relied on marine mammal studies which have been widely condemned by independent scientists".

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Another hot Christmas for Perth

Tourists enjoy a sunny Christmas day. Source: The Daily Telegraph

IN keeping with tradition in the west, the weather gods have again planned a Christmas Day scorcher, with the forecast tipped to reach a high of 38C.

The Bureau of Meteorology has released its latest 7-day forecast to December 25, consistent with predictions of a warm summer for western parts of WA. 

The week leading up to Santa's touchdown will be mostly sunny, with several days in the 30s, with a cool change on Saturday.

On Christmas Eve, the mercury will hit a max of 33C.
 
7-DAY FORECAST
Min 13
Max 31
Sunny. Winds south to southeasterly 15 to 25km/h tending east to southeasterly and becoming light during the day.
 
THURSDAY
Min 17
Max 35
Sunny.
 
FRIDAY

Min 18
Max 32
Mostly sunny.
 
SATURDAY
Min 16
Max 26
Partly cloudy.
 
SUNDAY
Min 16
Max 29
Cloud clearing.
 
CHRISTMAS EVE
Min 17
Max 33
Sunny.
 
CHRISTMAS DAY
Min 20
Max 38
Sunny.
 

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Listeria outbreak prompts cheese recall

Consumers in WA and across Australia are being warned to avoid certain cheeses. Source: Supplied

A LISTERIA outbreak has prompted a nation-wide recall of some of the most popular brands of soft cheeses across Australia.

Eight cases of listeria infection across Australia have found to be linked and a further three cases are under investigation, Victoria's Department of Health said.

The state's chief health officer Rosemary Lester said consumers should discard 1kg brie and camembert cheese branded Jindi, the 1kg Wattle Valley double brie and the 1kg Wattle Valley camembert with a best before date of December 21.

Dr Lester warned consumers to check the best before date of any Jindi or Wattle Valley soft cheeses.

"Consumers who have purchased a cut portion of camembert or brie from a supermarket or delicatessen who are unsure of the brand should discard it," she said.

Two Victorians, three NSW residents and one person in Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia have been diagnosed with the infection.

The cheeses have been voluntarily recalled as a precaution.

Listeria infections usually only produce mild symptoms in healthy people, but can be dangerous to pregnant women, their unborn babies and elderly people, Dr Lester said.

"It can cause miscarriages in pregnant women and even death in people with compromised immune systems," Dr Lester said.

"Investigations into listeria are complex as it can be difficult to identify the source.

"Symptoms of illness can take up to 70 days to appear."

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Truckie finds woman's body in Maddington

POLICE are interviewing residents at a block of flats in Maylands after a woman's body was found in Maddington this morning.

A truckdriver found the body in bushland opposite a factory at the end of a cul-de-sac on Valencia Way around 6.30am and police later confirmed they were treating the death as a homicide.

A team of police officers, including Major Crime Squad and forensic officers, were investigating at the scene, although police don't believe the murder occurred where the woman's body was found.

"Detectives are investigating the woman's death as a homicide," a police spokeswoman said.

"Police are asking anyone who frequents or works in the area or may have information that can assist with this inquiry to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000."

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