1. Five-year-old boy found dead after being ‘punished for wetting the bed’.
A five-year-old boy was found dead near a canal just 200m from his home after he was allegedly punished for ‘wetting the bed’, The Sun reports.
It’s believed the boy died after suffering a cardiac arrest, and was found wearing only his underwear in northern France’s Aire-sur-la-Lys.
The boy’s father, 30, and 20-year-old mother were arrested after police believed the boy suffered from physical abuse before his death. The parents had called for an ambulance after discovering the boy’s body near their home.
“The investigation must determine whether the child died of cold, if this is the result of a fall, or a case of abuse,” a police spokesman told French publication Le Parisien.
“A child of five years died in suspicious conditions as to the explanations that have been given, with a medical reason not established at this time. The suspicious conditions of this death led us to put the parents in custody on suspicion of violence causing death,” Patrick Leleu, the prosecutor of the Republic of Saint-Omer, said.
2. Australian Federal Police officer dies after shooting at Melbourne CBD headquarters.
A female AFP officer has died after suffering a fatal gunshot wound at the Melbourne CBD headquarters, 7 News reports.
“It it with great sadness I can confirm one of our police officers has died in Melbourne as a result of a gunshot wound yesterday,” a statement from AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin said this morning.
“The female officer was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital from the AFP office in La Trobe Street shortly before 6pm last night in a critical condition. She passed away a short time later.”
The AFP confirmed her death is being investigated, but it is not believed to be suspicious.
“My thoughts are with her loved ones and the broader AFP family who are dealing with the loss of one of our own today,” Mr Colvin said.
“We are offering support to her family and the wider AFP workforce.”
3. Boyfriend of woman killed in Phuket jet ski accident faces charges over her death.
The 22-year-old boyfriend of Emily Jayne Collie, who was killed in a jet ski crash in Thailand on Sunday afternoon, is expected to be charged over her death, Daily Mail reports.
Emily, 20, was killed when the jet ski she was riding crashed into the one being driven by her boyfriend, Tommy Keating, off Kata Beach in Phuket on the last day of their dream holiday in Thailand.
The Phuket News reported that Keating will now face charges over the accident.
“Ms Collie’s boyfriend, Mr Keating, who was driving the other jet ski when they collided will faces charges of reckless driving causing death,” Lt Patiwat Yodkhwan from the Karon Police told Phuket News.
The news comes as Tommy posted a loving tribute to his girlfriend on social media.
“My beautiful girl! Taken from us far too soon!” he wrote on Facebook.
“I love you so much Emily and I wish I could just bring you back into my arms.”
A statement released by Emily’s family described her as “the most beautiful woman there was”.
“She was a ray of sunshine to everyone she touched. She would do anything for anyone…she was smart, determined, full of humour, kind hearted and a joy to be around,” the statement read.
Emily’s parents are expected to arrive in Phuket on Wednesday to collect her body.
4. Cory Bernardi’s split from Coalition set to overshadow start to the parliamentary year.
Liberal senator Cory Bernardi is set to announce he is splitting from the Coalition to form his own political party on the first day of the parliamentary year.
Federal parliament returns after the summer beak today, but the return is set to be overshadowed by the conservative Bernardi’s announcement he is forming his own party based on his Australian Conservatives movement, says Sky News.
Bernardi’s Liberal colleagues have offered up last minute pleas in a bid to dissuade him from quitting the party, reports ABC News.
“I’d encourage Cory to have maybe one last think,” Liberal MP Craig Kelly told the ABC.
“You can do a lot more inside the Liberal party, working for, arguing those things that you believe in, than actually outside the tent.”
5. Autism advocates slam “pitiful” four-year jail sentence for woman who murdered her autistic daughter.
An autistic advocacy group in New Zealand says a four-year jail sentence for a woman who murdered her autistic daughter is “nowhere near enough”.
Gabrielle Hogg, the co-director of the Autistic Advocacy Network told the NZ Herald, said the short sentence implied the life of the woman’s daughter was “worth less simply because she was severely disabled”.
Mother Donella Knox, from Blenheim, was sentenced to four years in prison on December 16 after it was found she had suffocated her 20-year-old daughter Ruby after giving her Risperidone and anti-psychotic medication.
Knox self-published a book just a moth before Ruby’s death detailing her thoughts of hurting her daughter and “blowing up the hospital”.
“Why did no one who read that book go to the police, or go to the Ministry of Health Disability Support Services, to show Ruby’s life was at serious risk?” Hogg said.
“Where was the crisis management support team to sort out Ruby’s increasing behavioural issues? Where were they in investigating the cause of Ruby’s pain and alleviating Ruby’s pain by pain medication or any number of health tests that could have been done to get to the leading cause of Ruby’s increase in behavioural issues?”
Members of the Autistic Advocacy Network New Zealand believe that if Ruby was not disabled, her mother would have been given life in prison.
“Instead she got a mercy let-off pitiful four year jail sentence for murdering an innocent human being,” a statement on the group’s Facebook page read.
6. Gold Coast plastic surgeon found guilty of sexually assaulting a patient during a consultation.
A Gold Coast plastic surgeon who was found guilty of assaulting a patient during a consultation in May 2015 has avoided jail time.
Ces Colagrande, 46, was found guilty at Southport District Court yesterday, reports 9 News.
The court heard that Colagrande hugged the 24-year-old before grabbing and slapping her buttocks while whispering to her that he wanted to “f*** and f*** now”.
The man maintained that the woman had lied about the assault after she was dissatisfied with a breast enlargement she had undergone in October 2014.
“She was your patient…and in circumstances where she should have been safe. I do regard it as a serious offence and a serious breach of trust,” Judge Kent told the court.
The surgeon was sentenced to a nine-month jail sentence, wholly suspended for 18 months for the crime.
7. Perth woman grieves husband who died in a freak boating accident.
Amy Price has revealed she has gone from planning a family to planning a funeral after her husband was killed in a boating accident at the weekend, Perth Now reports.
Matthew, 27, was hit by the propeller of a boat while on a day out with friends. He was taken to Royal Perth Hospital on Saturday afternoon in a critical condition but died from his injuries.
“He just loved me so much and I loved him too, for ever – that won’t change,” Amy said.
‘He’s going to live on for ever. He’s with all of us.”
The Prices were married just seven months ago at a dream wedding in Mexico. They had just bought a puppy and had begun trying for a family.
Police are investigating how the accident happened and are currently speaking with everyone who was onboard the boat at the time of the incident.
Do you have a story to share with Mamamia? Email us news@mamamia.com.au
Top Comments
4 years WTH ???
I say good riddance to Bernadi - my only thought is why they had such a nut job in the party anyway. It was a senate seat - people were voting for the party not him.
My only concern is he is in the senate now- purely as a Liberal senator and he shouldn't be able to jump ship until the next election unless he wants to quit. It is dishonest and gives him way too much power to him as a cross bencher. Long term though- good riddance to one of the most truely repugnant politicians out there.
I think he is symptomatic of a Liberal party that's almost the same as the Labor party on policy. A party that lacks vision and leadership.
There are millions of conservatives who had to really pinch their nose to vote Liberal last election and about 1.1 million who changed their votes away to the right, to parties like Hanson.
It's a hostile mood in conservative country at the moment, I wouldn't underestimate the effect he could have in South Australia, depends a fair bit on how Xenophon performs.