news

Serial killer Ivan Milat has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, & more in News in 5.

-With AAP.

1. Serial killer Ivan Milat has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Serial killer Ivan Milat has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and is unlikely to return to NSW’s highest security prison.

Milat spent a third night in a Sydney hospital, after being transferred from Goulburn’s supermax jail for medical tests on lumps found in his throat and stomach.

The 74-year-old backpacker killer was transferred from Goulburn to Prince of Wales Hospital in Randwick on Monday afternoon.

Milat is being held in a secure annexe of the hospital where inmates are treated. He is also showing signs of dementia.

The Seven Network and ABC on Wednesday both reported Milat had cancer and wouldn’t be returning to Goulburn but would likely be transferred to Long Bay Jail hospital.

The former road worker was sentenced in 1996 to seven consecutive life sentences for murdering seven backpackers whose bodies were found in makeshift graves in NSW’s Belanglo State Forest in the 1990s.

He also kidnapped British tourist Paul Onions who managed to escape from Milat’s vehicle.

Milat has lost 20 kilograms over the past few months, with the ABC reporting a source close to his family he was suffering from geriatric anorexia and was “dangerously thin”.

Prison sources told the ABC he regularly refused food or would swallow sharp objects like paper clips and razor blades if guards did not meet his demands.

He routinely complained about prison food and threatened to hurt himself when his toasted sandwich machine was taken away due to “bad behaviour”.

ADVERTISEMENT

Corrective Services NSW Commissioner Peter Severin on Tuesday said prisoner transfers were done in the “most secure and safe way possible”.

High-risk and terrorism-related inmates are always guarded by specialist staff from the extreme high-security escort unit, a corrective services spokeswoman said.

“Extensive security planning and assessment is undertaken before such movements occur”.

Inmates are searched before they leave prison and when they return, the spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

At least one form of restraint – handcuffs or ankle cuffs – stay on high-risk inmates during medical treatment subject to medical requirements.

2. Former rugby league player Jarryd Hayne is facing a second rape charge.

ADVERTISEMENT

Former rugby league star, Jarryd Hayne, has appeared in court facing a second count of aggravated sexual assault against a woman in NSW’s Hunter Valley.

Hayne, 31, appeared briefly in the Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday before magistrate John Chicken.

Mr Chicken said he had not been “living in a bubble” and understood Hayne was facing a second aggravated sexual assault charge.

Defence lawyer Leo Premutico confirmed the new charge had been laid against Hayne and asked for two changes to his bail conditions, involving his residential address and where he would report to police.

Hayne, who is living in Queensland’s Broadbeach Waters, is accused of sexually assaulting a 26-year-old woman on September 30, 2018, between 8pm and 10pm at Newcastle.

Court documents state Hayne had sex with the woman without her consent and “recklessly inflicted actual bodily harm” to the woman during the alleged rape.

Mr Chicken agreed to vary Hayne’s bail conditions and adjourned the matter to June 26.

Hayne did not speak to media as he was escorted by a police officer to a car waiting outside the courthouse.

ADVERTISEMENT

Hayne’s barrister has previously indicated in court that the former NRL player intends to plead not guilty.

The charges he faces each carry a maximum 20-year jail term.

3. The Jeremy Kyle Show has been permanently cancelled after the death of a guest.

jeremy-kyle

British broadcaster ITV has cancelled a popular, long-running daytime reality show after the death of a guest who failed a lie-detector test during a recording.

ITV chief executive Carolyn McCall said The Jeremy Kyle Show was being scrapped "given the gravity of recent events".

ADVERTISEMENT

The tabloid-style talk show, which had run for 14 years, was pulled after 63-year-old Steve Dymond was found dead at a home in Portsmouth, southern England, on May 9.

Media reported that he had killed himself. Police said the death was not suspicious, and a post-mortem will be held to determine the cause.

On an episode filmed earlier this month, Dymond took a lie-detector test to convince his fiancee that he had not been unfaithful, but was told he had failed.

The episode has not been aired.

Dymond's death has heightened concern in Britain about the stress put on people appearing on reality television and online shows, and program-makers' duty to protect their guests.

It's a debate that has raged, off and on, for close to two decades since Britain began making home-grown equivalents of sensationalist US. programs like The Jerry Springer Show and putting ordinary people under intense scrutiny on reality shows such as Big Brother.

ITV was already under pressure following the deaths of two former contestants, Sophie Gradon and Mike Thalassitis. on reality show Love Island. Gradon's 2018 death was ruled a suicide at an inquest. An inquest has not yet been held for Thalassitis, who died in March.

Lawmaker Damian Collins, chairman of the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said the panel would discuss "what should be done to review the duty of care support for people appearing in reality TV shows" during a private meeting on Wednesday.

ADVERTISEMENT

Simon Wessely, a former head of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said shows like Jeremy Kyle were "the theatre of cruelty".

"And yes, it might entertain a million people a day, but then again, so did Christians versus lions," he said.

Anyone needing support is urged to contact beyondblue (1800 22 4636) or Lifeline on 13 11 14.

4. A Sydney woman has been found guilty of possessing two women as slaves.

A Sydney woman has been found guilty of keeping two Thai women as slaves.

ADVERTISEMENT

Rungnapha "Lisa" Kanbut was found guilty by a NSW District Court jury on Wednesday of two counts each of intentionally possessing a slave, exercising powers of ownership over a slave and dealing with the proceeds of crime.

The two Thai women, who voluntarily came to Australia from Asia to do sex work, lived with Kanbut and her husband at their home in 2004 and 2005 respectively.

They testified at Kanbut's trial that she took their passports and returned them once they had each paid off a $45,000 "debt" which took some months.

The Crown alleged the 57-year-old "exercised complete control" over the women, but Kanbut's barrister contended the pair instead had an "economic relationship" with her.

But after a week of deliberations, the jury returned guilty verdicts on all of the charges.

Kanbut was refused bail and is next due to face court in September.

During the trial, Judge Nanette Williams told the jury the law defined slavery as "the condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised, including where such a condition results from a debt or a contract made by the person".

Factors jurors could take into account included the exercise of powers of control over movement of the person which extend clearly beyond exploitative employment.

Crown prosecutor Peter Neil SC, in his closing submissions, said one of the women wasn't familiar with Sydney, had little money of her own and couldn't speak English.

ADVERTISEMENT

"She said (Kanbut) said to her 'Don't think about running away because there's nowhere for you to run'," the prosecutor said.

The first complainant testified naked photos of her were security that would be "put up to shame" her if she fled.

"Just because you accept your fate because there is no alternative doesn't mean you consent to it," Mr Neil said.

5. Facebook will restrict its Live feature after the New Zealand terror attack.


Facebook Inc says it is tightening rules around its livestreaming feature ahead of a meeting of world leaders aimed at curbing online violence in the aftermath of a massacre in New Zealand.

ADVERTISEMENT

A lone gunman killed 51 people at two mosques in the city of Christchurch on March 15 while livestreaming the attacks on Facebook.

It was New Zealand's worst peacetime shooting and spurred calls for tech companies to do more to combat extremism on their services.

Facebook said in a statement it was introducing a "one-strike" policy for use of Facebook Live, temporarily restricting access for people who have faced disciplinary action for breaking the company's most serious rules anywhere on its site.

First-time offenders will be suspended from using Live for set periods of time, the company said. It is also broadening the range of offences that will qualify for one-strike suspensions.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the change addressed a key component of an initiative, known as the "Christchurch Call", she is spearheading to halt the spread of violence online.

"Facebook's decision to put limits on livestreaming is a good first step to restrict the application being used as a tool for terrorists, and shows the Christchurch Call is being acted on," she said in an email from her spokesman.

Facebook did not specify which offences were eligible for the one-strike policy or how long suspensions would last, but a spokeswoman said it would not have been possible for the shooter to use Live on his account under the new rules.

ADVERTISEMENT

The company said it plans to extend the restrictions to other areas over coming weeks, beginning with preventing the same people from creating ads on Facebook.

It also said it would fund research at three universities on techniques to detect manipulated media, which Facebook's systems struggled to spot in the aftermath of the attack.

Ardern said the research was welcome and that edited and manipulated videos of the March 15 mosque shootings had been slow to be removed, resulting in many, including herself, seeing it played in Facebook feeds.

Facebook has said it removed 1.5 million videos globally that contained footage of the attack in the first 24 hours after it occurred. It said in a blog post in late March that it had identified more than 900 different versions of the video.

Ardern is due to lead a meeting, with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Wednesday, that seeks to have world leaders and chiefs of tech companies sign a pledge to eliminate violent content online.

"There is a lot more work to do, but I am pleased Facebook have taken additional steps today alongside the Call and look forward to a long term collaboration to make social media safer by removing terrorist content from it," she said.

In an opinion piece in the New York Times on Saturday, Ardern said the "Christchurch Call" would be a voluntary framework that commits signatories to put in place specific measures to prevent the uploading of terrorist content.