2010
Man bashed over a lighter at
The three men were waiting on the city-bound platform at Melbourne's Noble Park station about 11.10pm when they were approached by two men asking for a lighter.
The attackers, believed to be of African descent, walked with the pair through an underpass where one of the victims, 22, was punched to the ground and a third attacker arrived, kicking the victim in the head.
The victim's 21-year-old friend attempted to intervene but was punched several times in the head.
The 22-year-old was taken to The Alfred hospital suffering multiple facial fractures and a possible fractured skull.
His friend was taken to Dandenong Hospital with a suspected broken jaw.
The attackers fled in a white hatchback car.
The assault mimics a sickening incident at Sunshine station last year in which a man was knocked unconscious in an underpass by three men, all African refugees, who repeatedly punched and kicked him in the head.
Footage of Saturday night's incident is being reviewed by transit police.
The three attackers remained at large yesterday, although detectives were confident of interviewing a suspect last night.
The violence comes just a week after an attack in the CBD in which up to four African men attacked a lone youth outside a nightclub.
The gang attempted to rob him and assaulted him before bashing him a second time after he followed them. At least two suspects were charged.
Police would not release CCTV footage of the attack or details of where it occurred despite some of the perpetrators still being at large late last week.
Sources have told the Herald Sun senior police do not want publicity regarding crimes involving minority (ethnic) groups because it could inflame race debate.
Victoria Police denied this.
The latest assault comes despite a police blitz on the Dandenong area in 2007-08 instigated after the murder of Sudanese gang member Liep Gony in a Noble Park street.
Victoria Police set up Sarazan Taskforce, which focused on north African youth gangs. In five months, 276 people were arrested and charged with 280 offences.
Suspicious activity, Clayfield
Police have released a comfit of a man they believe may be able to assist with their investigations into separate incidents involving two young girls at Clayfield in past weeks.
An 11-year-old girl was walking on Gregory Street about 3pm on June 18 when she walked past a small white four door sedan.
As the girl approached the car a man got out and spoke to her. He remained a couple of metres away from the girl.
The girl ran away and alerted nearby adults.
On June 2, a 12-year-old girl was walking on Gregory Street around 4.20pm. She walked past a small white parked car and noticed a man sitting in the vehicle.
The girl continued walking into Bayview Terrace when the car pulled up beside her. The man remained in the driver’s seat and spoke to girl who then ran away.
Both incidents were later reported to police. Initial investigations suggest the same man has spoken to each girl.
The man is described as being of African appearance, tall, slim, aged in his early 30’s, curly black hair and dark complexion. On one occasion he was wearing a red and white chequered shirt, beige trousers and black belt.
Attempted abduction in Mindarie
African boy, 15, jailed 16 years for murder of innocent bystander
"This was an offence of the most disturbing and senseless kind," Justice Megan Latham said in sentencing the boy in the NSW Supreme Court today.
The youth, who was 15-years-old at the time of the offence and cannot be named, was found guilty of the stabbing murder of Edward Spowart, 54, in the early hours of April 21, 2008, during a brawl in the streets of Granville.
"It might be said that his exposure to violence in the Sudan and Kenya desensitised him to some extent to the use of violence in order to settle disputes," the judge said.
"However, the offender is not without intelligence and, according to his stepmother, was a respectful, polite young man until his entry into high school in Australia in 2006."
The intoxicated teenager had asked someone in the other group for a cigarette but was rebuffed and told to go home.
"Apparently reacting out of a wounded sense of pride, the offender threw a punch," the judge said.
A brawl then broke out, with various men and youths arming themselves with sticks, bricks and street signs.
"However, Mr Spowart played no active part in that confrontation or in the later hostilities," the judge said.
"He was an innocent bystander who had retreated to the relative safety of a grass verge and was carrying nothing more than a plastic shopping bag when the offender ran towards him with a knife and viciously assaulted him."
Describing the attack as "cowardly and vengeful", Justice Latham said Mr Spowart posed no threat and bore no responsibility for the conduct of his friends.
The murder "demonstrates yet again the havoc that is wreaked all too often when a knife is carried in public by intoxicated males, who resort to violence to vindicate themselves over some relatively petty slight," the judge said.
She set a maximum term of 23 years.
Four African boys face 68 charges over rape of girl
FOUR Melbourne teenagers have been charged with 68 counts of rape after the alleged gang attack of a girl in a suburban public toilet block.
Police allege three of the four youths followed the 15-year-old girl from a railway station through the streets of Sunshine and St Albans before snatching her dropped school bag and forcing her into the toilet block.
The youths, two aged 15 and two aged 16, each face 17 charges of rape and one of false imprisonment over the alleged attack on May 5, which a court yesterday heard took place that evening.
The girl's parents had reported their daughter to police as a missing person when she did not return home from school.
She was found crying at a neighbour's house about 8pm, a Melbourne Children's Court heard yesterday.
The youths, who are of African origin, cannot be identified because of their age.
A detective from the sexual crimes squad testified that the girl, who is also of African origin, was known to some of the youths through a homework club at a local library.
He said that three followed her through Sunshine, on and off a bus, through the train station and on to the train she was catching to St Albans to return home.
The girl was uncomfortable when the three sat close to her in the same group of seats. When she left the train, the youths followed her along Main Road East as she walked home, the court was told. She later began to run, and turned down a side street, but when she dropped her school bag, one of the teenagers seized it and refused to return it.
By this stage, the fourth youth had joined the others and they ran away with her bag - she followed, asking for its return because it had valuable items in it.
The detective told the court that the teenagers stopped at a public toilet block at the rear of the St Paul's Church in St Albans, where she was forced into a cubicle; one boy told her to remove her clothing and raped her.
The detective said the three co-accused kept watch.
The first youth left the toilet after allegedly raping the girl three times, the court heard. The detective said he was wearing a condom but removed it.
After he left, the three co-accused entered one at a time and raped the girl at least twice each, the detective said.
After the fourth youth left the toilet, the first re-entered the cubicle and the initial order of the four entering and raping was repeated, the court was told.
Between each of the teenagers allegedly raping her, the girl repeatedly asked to have her bag returned and that she be able to go home, but they refused.
The detective said the girl reported the matter that night to her parents, and then to police, and was taken to the Royal Children's Hospital.
The detective said the teenagers could also face stalking charges.
Police have opposed bail for the four teenagers, alleging they would be an unacceptable risk of reoffending and of interfering with witnesses.
One of the teenagers' mothers told the court her son told her when he returned home that night he had been with friends at the library.
The court heard the parents and families of the teenagers were supportive and respectful of the police and the investigation.
An assistant principal of the Catholic school that two of the youths attend said there would be discussions about whether they would remain there.
Three of the teenagers have been in custody since Friday. The fourth was remanded on Monday.
The bail application resumes on Friday.
African youths riot at Springvale club La Rock
About 50 youths were so violent they had to be subdued with capsicum spray.
Eight men of African descent, aged 18-20, were arrested after the brawl outside La Rock nightclub in Springvale, but were let off with $234 fines for riotous behaviour.
Eye lost in
The attack was believed to have been sparked after the 25-year-old victim accidentally stepped on another girl's foot in the women's toilets of the West Tce venue during an African-themed Rugby Sevens party last month.
The victim, who would give only her first name, Tash, has described how she thought she was going to be killed as up to four women of African descent bashed her in what she maintains was an unprovoked attack in the early hours of March 21.
The retail worker said she was bashed and knocked to the ground in the toilets at about 3am by a group of women, before one stamped on her face - plunging her stiletto heel into Tash's left eye, missing her brain by millimetres.
"I remember getting smashed (on) either the sink or the hair-dryer and (I) went straight to the ground," Tash said. "They were kicking my face and I remember the heel going in, I felt the heel going in."I was basically three millimetres away from permanent brain damage - the heel went in 23mm."
She said she could not think of anything that may have provoked the attack but recalled she may have stepped on the foot of one in the group when she entered the toilet.
The western suburbs woman later underwent 90 minutes of surgery at Royal Adelaide Hospital but doctors could not save her sight.
Her eye was removed on March 26 and she will shortly be fitted with a prosthetic eye.
The viciousness of the attack has left Tash shell-shocked. She said she is now too scared to go out at night and wears sunglasses every day to hide her disfigurement. "It's not human (what they did), especially females," she said.
"I've never heard of something so vicious . . . I had a feeling I was going to die; as soon as I tasted my own blood, I thought `I'm gone'.
"It's awful out there; I'm scared in years to come people are going to start carrying guns into clubs."
Tash said she was "trying to be strong" despite her life-changing ordeal but desperately wanted justice over the attack.
"They (the attackers) don't deserve to live a happy life; I don't know if they realise what they have done . . . maybe they have done this before," she said. "I have my down days; it took me a week to cry after I got out of hospital, I was just really angry.
"I would really like to speak to anyone else who has gone through what I have."
Tash's mother said nothing could justify what the women had done to her daughter.
"Hopefully they get a conscience and give themselves up, and somebody who knows them does the right thing and reports it to the authorities," she said.
"She's got a strong family unit supporting her and good friends; she's got a battle in front of her but she's a fighter. She's not going to bury her head in the sand and will carry on the best way that she can."
Eastern Adelaide CIB Senior Constable Christian Ruckert said police were appealing for anybody to come forward, as CCTV footage seized from HQ had offered no leads.
"This was a pretty brutal attack and I've never heard of anything like this before," he said. "You don't expect females to do that to each other; blokes glass each other but you don't expect this from girls."
One dead in
Police have raided a Ballajura house and are interviewing five men as they investigate a Mirabooka brawl in which one man died and another was critically injured.
Police and sources in the Sudanese community have confirmed the dead man is Asamh Manyan, 20, of Mirrabooka.
Paramedics and police were called to the Mirrabooka riot about 9.50pm.
Insp. Neil Blair said police found a group fighting near the corner of Northwood Drive and Australis Avenue.
Insp. Blair said two people were stabbed during the violent brawl and a 20-year-old had since died.
It is understood a police officer unsuccessfully performed CPR on the victim.
The other man remains in a critical condition in Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.
A man was handcuffed by police and questioned on the roadside.
Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan said this morning the men were either African or Middle Eastern but the violence was not gang related and there were no racial overtones.
He said five people were being interviewed by police.
Sudanese community leader Simon Dang this morning said the man who died was an honest, hard-working student and it was a sad day for the Sudanese community and the community at large. Mr Dang said he was with a group of friends walking to the shop when the attack happened.
“When you lose someone in your family, (the family of the deceased) are very hurt," he said. “(He was) an honest young man who would not be involved in any type of crime. He has died for no reason.”
Supt Mark Gilbert, of the west metropolitan police district which stretches over one-sixth of the Perth metropolitan area and is believed to be the most culturally diverse in Australia, said police had engaged with community leaders to try and identify any underlying problems between various ethnic groups.
“It is completely out of character for this area to have people stabbed in a street like this,” he said.
Police raided the Ballajura house earlier this morning.
A big section of Australis Avenue was closed this morning as major crime squad and forensic officers searched nearby bush.
Several backpacks remain strewn on the road and about 20 bright yellow evidence markers dot the suburban street as police continue their search.
This morning one witness told thewest.com.au how she watched the riot through a window after she heard screaming and shouting about 9.30pm.
The 16-year-old Morley Senior High School student, who did not want to be named, lives on Wintersweet Ramble off Australis Avenue.
"I just heard like screaming and saw people running around," she said.
She said she watched a group of men brandishing "some sort of weapon".
"It was long, but it was too dark to see what it was," she said. "It was too much screaming, I couldn't understand it. It was too hard to make out what they were shouting."
She said her family had lived on the street for about five years and had never experienced anything like it before.
"This is like the first time," she said. It's pretty quiet down here. It's kind of worrying ... wouldn't you find it worrying? It doesn't make you feel safe."
Another Wintersweet Ramble resident said he was watching a movie when he heard "a few pops and bangs."
"I don't know if they were bottles breaking," the man said. "I had a quick gander out the window but didn't see anything."
He said there wasn't usually any trouble in the area although groups of males were known to walk the streets.
Police inquiries are continuing and the streets have been cordoned off. Motorists are advised to seek alternative routes this morning.
Police officer rushed to hospital after mass brawl
A police officer is one of four people who have been taken to hospital after a fight in Queens Park last night.
Sergeant Julie Hanson said a group of about 15 men of African appearance were loitering in a park opposite a home on George Street about 10pm.
She claimed the fight erupted after one man started to interfere with a car.
The owner of the car, a George Street resident, confronted the men and found himself surrounded by the group.
An 78-year-old man came out of the same house and was punched to the head, Sergeant Hansen said.
Police were called and one officer injured his knee and was taken to Royal Perth Hospital after chasing one of the offenders who tried to flee the scene.
6PR radio reported the elderly man was taken to hospital and required ten stitches to a head wound.
2009
Break and enter, pharmacy, Pittsworth
A pharmacy in Yandilla Street was broken into overnight and a quantity of property stolen. Two men entered the pharmacy by smashing the front glass doors around 3.30am. They then stole a quantity of medication before leaving the store and making their way to a waiting vehicle. Upon being confronted by security guards the men dropped the property before fleeing in a dark blue 1990’s model Hyundai Excel with a grey bonnet and patches on the bodywork. Both men are described as being of African descent with slim builds. One was wearing a black jumper with black jeans, the other was wearing a black and red jumper with black jeans.Robbery with violence, Kangaroo Point
Service station attempted robbery –
A teenage girl was stabbed in the stomach after being confronted by up to four men in Balga early today.
They said the men, believed to be Sudanese, were in a silver car that pulled up at the house.
After the incident they drove off, leaving the injured woman on the front lawn of the house.
She was taken to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital by ambulance.
African community called on to help police solve the murder
ADELAIDE'S tight-knit African community is being called on to help police solve the murder of a pregnant refugee who died in a unit fire on New Year's Day.
Malaika Mkandale died in the blaze which erupted at about 3am on January 1, inside the Camden Park unit on Anzac Highway she shared with her husband and toddler son.
Major Crime detectives declared the 21-year old's death a murder but are yet to make an arrest.
Ms Mkandale's husband, Luka Kageregere, 36, escaped the blaze with the couple's 18-month-old son, who is now being cared for by relatives in Melbourne.
Acting Superintendent Denise Gray said Mr Kageregere told police an intruder had broken into the unit and started the fire.
He said the intruder was of East African appearance, with a dark complexion and aged in his 20s.
Four arrested over army base suicide attack plot
NAYEF El Sayed refused to stand when he faced court yesterday, the accused terrorist saying he stood for no man, only for his God.
A second man, Saney Aweys, told the court he needed a "rest".
Hours earlier, El Sayed, Aweys and two other members of the alleged Melbourne terror cell were arrested in dawn raids by armed police in one of the largest counter-terrorism operations in the country's history.
The men are allegedly connected with the Somali-based terrorist group al-Shabaab, which is aligned with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda.
The FBI last night confirmed it had been in touch with Australian authorities over the terror group, while Somali jihadists in the US are said to have been recruiting in Australia for up to six years.
At 4.30am (AEST) yesterday, police made their move because they believed a planned suicide attack on the terrorists' target, Sydney's Holsworthy army base, was "likely imminent", NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said.
The four men had allegedly plotted to storm the barracks with automatic weapons and kill as many soldiers and bystanders as possible in what would have been the worst terror attack in Australia.
"Should they have made the entry they would likely have killed many, many (soldiers)," Mr Scipione said.
NSW Premier Nathan Rees was first briefed by police in April, when the security status at the Holsworthy Barracks was increased.
"Today's events are a sobering reminder that the threat of terrorism is real," Mr Rees said.
Yesterday's arrests were the culmination of a seven-month covert investigation code named Operation Neath involving the AFP, NSW Police, Victoria Police, ASIO and the NSW Crime Commission.
The suspects are of Somali and Lebanese decent, most of whom are labourers employed in Melbourne's construction industry or as taxi drivers.
Police executed 19 search warrants on houses in the Melbourne suburbs of Glenroy, Carlton, Meadow Heights, Roxburgh Park, Broadmeadows, Westmeadows, Preston, Epping and Colac.
El Sayed, Aweys and two other men were arrested. A fifth Melbourne man was last night being questioned.
Late yesterday, El Sayed, 25, of Glenroy appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court charged with conspiring between February 1 and August 4 in preparation for a terrorist act.
Sitting behind bullet-proof glass, the burly and bearded El Sayed refused to stand when asked by magistrate Peter Reardon. He said through his lawyer that he stood for no man - only his God.
Mr Reardon remanded him in custody until October 26. Police were granted an extension to investigate and interview Aweys.
During the hearing, Mr Reardon asked if the alleged plot was a plan by those involved to become self-proclaimed martyrs. Prosecutor Nick Robinson SC said that was correct.
AFP agent David Kinton told the court investigators had intercepted phone calls and text messages between several men regarding the alleged attack on Holsworthy.
The court heard the group had shown a desire to attempt to find a sheik either here or overseas willing to authorise such an attack in Australia.
Representing himself, Aweys said he needed time to rest after being arrested early yesterday.
Aweys, whose address and age were not given in court, said he was told to have a nap with the lights on and federal agents around him.
In granting an eight-hour extension before questioning could continue, Mr Reardon said there was sufficient evidence of a terrorist conspiracy.
He said recent terror attacks in Mumbai, Madrid and London had struck at the heart of democratic society and federal investigators should be allowed to fully investigate such serious allegations.
Prosecutors will also apply for an extension of time to interview the two other men arrested.
A prominent US Somali leader said extremist elements had been dispatching al-Shabaab members from Minneapolis on regular fundraising and lecturing trips to Australia.
He said Australian al-Shabaab members were among the most important in the group.
"People here have been flying to Australia, doing lectures and fundraising, then coming back," he said.
The FBI last night confirmed it had been in touch with Australian authorities over the terror group.
"We have a particularly outstanding relationship with our Australian partners and we have mutual concerns over these and other counter-terrorism issues," a spokesman told The Daily Telegraph.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Australia would not be increasing its terror alert level.
But he said yesterday's events were a strong reminder.
"The threat of terrorism is alive and well and this requires continued vigilance," he said.
Police say the man, who gave his name as David, stole $29,000 from a business in Port Adelaide and $27,000 from a business in Pasadena earlier this year.
In both incidents, he offered to buy the business but claimed a payment from the current owners was needed so money from Africa could pass through customs undetected.
He gave a mobile phone contact number which has since been disconnected.
Police have warned other Adelaide businesses to be wary of unusual offers and requests for money.
Assistance following robbery of elderly woman –
Drug Smuggle: Concealed cocaine internally
Attempted car jacking - Seven Hills
Sexual assault – Merrylands
Young boy touched by African pervert during attempted abduction
Last night the 12-year-old victim's mother revealed her horror as police appealed for public assistance catching the predator.
The man approached the boy and two friends as they played basketball in a Prospect park on Monday afternoon, telling them he was a professional soccer player.
The boy's mother - who would not be named - told The Daily Telegraph the man "cupped" her son's face in his hands and looked into his eyes before saying he "had a beautiful face".
The man also touched one of the other boys, aged 11, on the arm.
The friends ran to the 12-year-old's home, with the man following.
"I was shocked and terrified," the mother-of-two said.
"As a parent, you know all about stranger danger and you always try to teach your kids the right thing to do if they are approached by a stranger.
"But you never think that it could happen to your family."
The attack, witnessed by a fourth boy, occurred at William Lawson Park about 1pm on Monday. It followed the attempted abduction of a girl at Ourimbah on Easter Sunday.
Police said yesterday there had been an increase in reported abduction attempts and similar behaviour because of school holidays.
"There is an increase of reports of suspicious behaviour as we approach school holidays, which is again what has happened over the weekend," Detective Superintendent John Kerlatec said referring to the Central Coast incident.
Police urged parents to talk to children about what to do if they are approached by strangers in public.
"It is important to tell children not to talk to adults they don't know," Supt Kerlatec said.
He said anyone being dragged into a car should yell the words "Go away, I don't know you" in a loud voice, because it would immediately raise the alarm to people nearby.
Police are searching for the man, who was believed to be aged in his 30s and described to police as being of African appearance, obese and with a shaved head.
The mother yesterday visited the scene of the attack at Prospect before giving a statement to police.
Ethnic gangs fuelling fears of a race war
April 3rd, 2009
THE family of a teenager smashed in the face with a brick during a violent brawl fear the attack could spark a race war.
Darren Cubillo and Karen Surha's 16-year-old son Darren Jnr was rushed to hospital following the melee at the Leanyer Recreation Park on Sunday.
They said the vicious attack was unprovoked and those responsible belong to an African gang - believed to be called the Hoodstars - who have allegedly been wreaking havoc for months in Darwin's northern suburbs.
The family said the unruly teenage gang, whose members range in age from 13 to 25, was armed with machetes and baseball bats and pelted rocks at them at the water park.
And a day before the melee, a cousin, Manuel Manolis, 15, was also threatened by nine members of the same gang as he walked home alone from the Malak shops.
He said if a resident did not come to his rescue and pull him into her house he does not know what would have happened.
Since the water park attack, the Cubillo family said the "wannabe thugs" have been driving past their home, taunting them with racial slurs and threats to kill. Police are investigating the allegations.
Mr Cubillo said the situation was out of hand.
"It's not a turf war, it's a race war," he said. "I don't condone violence, but it's a parent's unconditional love to protect their children.
"These wannabe thugs are just going around in numbers waiting for people to be on their own.
"They target anyone innocent and defenceless to make a name for themselves.
"We shouldn't have to live in fear - it's coming to (a point) where someone is going to get seriously hurt.
"No family in Darwin wants to get a phone call saying their child has been beaten to death.
"But that is what is going to happen if we don't speak out and do something."
Mr Cubillo had one message for the thugs: "Grow up, go to school or get a job, as you are heading down a dead end street with a sign at the end saying no U-turn."
Ms Surha said she felt her family had been made out to be the perpetrators rather than the victims at the Leanyer water park brawl.
"A lot of people are saying we were the troublemakers, but we were just there like everyone else to have fun with our family," she said.
"Instead we got threatened with machetes and bats and pelted with rocks and I spent hours up the hospital in a panic about my son's eye."
"I'm now too scared to let my children go anywhere by themselves.
"It's just too dangerous."
Islander and African gangs rob people in
POLICE say they have increased night foot patrols in Newcastle at weekends in response to a recent spike in violent robberies by groups of youths stalking inner-city party precincts and train stations.
At least four teenagers, including two 17-year-old girls, have been charged with robbery offences following several weeks of violence.
On one weekend this month there were 13 violent robberies.
But the increased police presence did not help Merewether Heights man Stuart Alderman, whose nose was broken and face cut when he came across young graffiti vandals tagging Newcastle railway station last Saturday night.
Still bloodied and bruised from the assault, the 56-year-old said yesterday that as he was being treated by ambulance officers he saw his attackers chase another man up an inner-city street.
He believed one of them was aged as young as 12.
"I think I just have to move on from it and unfortunately accept it as now part of life in Newcastle," Mr Alderman said.
"We shouldn't have to live with it but it looks like we have to."
Newcastle City crime manager Detective Chief Inspector Brad Tayler said several groups appeared to be working independently in areas populated by inner-city pub- and club-goers.
"The descriptions vary, some are Islander males and some are African males," Detective Chief Inspector Tayler said.
"It appears there are a number of groups out and about on the weekends so we have stepped up our presence in the areas we believe are being targeted."
A fortnight ago police reported 13 violent robberies in two nights in the Hunter Street Mall, Perkins Street, The Junction, Mayfield, Waratah train station and No. 2 Sportsground.
Mr Alderman was set upon as he walked to a Scott Street bus stop after finishing his shift at a Hunter Street bottle shop about 10pm.
He called out to youths he saw tagging a wall and was attacked when he followed them up Bolton Street.
He was king hit by one of the teenagers and was waiting for a "glassing and a kicking" when two strangers pulled up in a car and frightened the attackers off.
"The two blokes who turned up in the four-wheel drive definitely saved me from a more severe belting, no doubt," Mr Alderman said.
Mr Alderman said that he saw the youths chase another man up Watt Street before "laying into him".
"The kids aren't fuelled with alcohol and police have recognised that," he said.
"They were just out there for a bash and run and robbing people is generally their go too."
Mr Alderman said he believed police were doing everything in their power to stop the bashings but "had their hands tied" because of legislation.
Detective Chief Inspector Tayler said Mr Alderman's assault was the only reported bashing in the city last weekend. The increased police presence would continue this weekend.
Two girls, both aged 17, have been charged with robbery and an 18-year-old man and a 17-year-old youth are also facing robbery offences.
The offences are alleged to have occurred in Waratah this month19 years jail for miscegenation scam
A NIGERIAN university student has been sentenced to 19 years in an African jail for defrauding a middle aged Gold Coast woman of more than $40,000 in an internet scam.
Police are searching for a man who robbed a 51-year-old woman at Moorooka about 12.20am today. The woman was walking home when a man approached her from behind at the intersection of Koala Road and Pampas Street. He knocked her to the ground where a struggle ensued before the woman’s cries for help alerted nearby residents. The man stole property belonging to the woman and fled the scene along Koala Road. The victim suffered minor abrasions to her hands and neck. The offender is described as being about 180cm tall with a dark complexion and of African appearance.Brutal bashing at
Video: http://www.downundernewslinks.com/2009/02/26/african-thugs-bash-male-at-melbourne-train-station/
Attempted child abduction in Huntingdale
Sudanese 'Extreme' drink driver banned
February 12, 2009 02:03pm
A FORMER refugee has received a suspended jail sentence for what a magistrate called an "extreme" case of drink driving.
Moses Moju, 30, of New Town, was also banned from driving for 27 months.
He admitted in the Hobart Magistrates Court today to driving with a blood alcohol reading more than five times the legal limit.
The court heard the P-plate driver crashed into a light pole on the corner of Davey St and the Southern Outlet on May 31 last year.
He received a deep cut to his forehead and his car was written off.
A witness told police he had seen Moju driving erratically before the crash.
Moju's lawyer Patrick Dixon said his client arrived in Tasmania as a refugee in 2005 and was now a citizen.
Mr Dixon said Moju was taken from his village in Sudan as a young boy and abused and forced to train as a soldier.
Moju managed to run away to Uganda where he was eventually reunited with his family.
Mr Dixon said Moju had received terrible news from Uganda about his father's illness and the death of an uncle on the night of the incident.
He bought a cask of wine, but the alcohol simply made him feel even more lonely.
Moju was on his way to a friend's house when he crashed the car, Mr Dixon said.
"He acknowledged he posed a danger to other road users that night," Mr Dixon said.
Magistrate Sam Mollard said while the mitigating circumstances were extreme, so were Moju's actions.
"Yours is one of the worst cases of driving under the influence that one is accustomed to see," Mr Mollard said.
He said there had been an increase in the number of bad drink-driving cases over the past year.
He gave Moju a four-month jail sentence, suspended on the condition that he is of good behaviour for three years.
Hunt for intruder over mother's murder
Police today declared the death of Malaika Mukantare in her Camden Park unit on January 1 about 3am a major crime.
Police are calling on anyone who may have seen or heard an intruder near the Anzac Hwy units, or who may have had a similar experience.
The intruder is described by a witness as an East African man, aged in his 20s with a dark complexion and a slim build.
Ms Mukantare, 21, was pregnant when she died. Her partner Luka Kageregere and their son Joseph escaped the fire.
Violent attacks scar two for life
Image: http://www.downundernewslinks.com/images/news1/Violent-attacks-scar-two-for-life-26-01-2009.jpg
Burswood attack costs victim eyesight
Appeal for information about alleged assault — Ashfield
Police search for backpacker bashers
A MAN was assaulted and robbed of his backpack by two men in Southport overnight.
Gold Coast district Superintendent Jim Keogh said a 24-year-old man was walking along Garden Street about 11.15pm when he was approached by two men of African appearance.
He said the pair asked him for a cigarette and when the man failed to produce one, they assaulted him and stole his backpack before fleeing.
It is unclear which direction the men ran.
The 24-year-old suffered cuts and abrasions in the attack.
Police investigations into the incident are continuing.
2008
Charity worker and wife attacked on Christmas Eve
Bid to stop cab licence for killer
Lone
An armed gang has robbed a lone motorist at gunpoint in Sydney's west.
Police say five men - believed to be Africans - swerved their vehicle in front of another motorist driving alone in Prospect about 3pm on Saturday.
The 29-year-old male victim was driving a white Holden Commodore in Stoddard Road when the gang's sky blue Mitsubishi Magna overtook him.
The Magna blocked the road with all five man getting out and approaching the Holden.
One of the gang pointed a gun at the driver and demanded his wallet, which he handed over, police said.
The gang then got back in the Magna and drove east.
Police are appealing for witnesses.
The men are described as African in appearance, aged in their 20s. All of them were tall, thin and clean shaven.
One of the gang was wearing a red singlet and black baggy pants.
Man charged with possessing false passport
http://www.afp.gov.au/media_releases/national/2008/man_charged_with_possessing_false_passport2
Charges soon over murder of Sudanese schoolboy
Image: http://www.downundernewslinks.com/images/news1/Daniel_Awak_Stabbing.jpg
Article : http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24641248-5006301,00.html
Armed hold-up outside train station
The man was walking out of Wiley Park train station in Sydney's southwest when he was confronted by three men about 5pm (AEDT) yesterday, police said.
"Two of the men withdrew guns, demanding the man to hand over his belongings,'' New South Wales Police said.
"The third man proceeded to search the victim's pockets, taking cash and personal papers from his wallet. The man's watch and mobile phone were also stolen. The men continued to threaten the victim.''
The victim was not injured, but told police he thought the guns were real and feared for his safety.
The robbers are described as being of black/African appearance.
African gang wanted over robbery in Moorooka
http://www.police.qld.gov.au/News+and+Alerts/Media+Releases/2008/11/mru+nov2.htm
16-year-old girl robbed in Runcorn
http://www.police.qld.gov.au/News+and+Alerts/Media+Releases/2008/11/mru+nov2.htm
Police are looking to speak to a tall African man over a stabbing in Eden Hill last night.
Police say a 19-year-old Dianella man was stabbed in the stomach three times and remains in a serious but stable condition in Royal Perth Hospital.
It is believed an argument broke out at a party just before late last night.
The victim fled, but was later stabbed.
Police say the attacker was wearing a distinctive gold necklace.
Attempted abduction in Raymond Terrace
The 15-year-old girl was approached about 6.15pm yesterday by a man driving a blue Toyota Camry as she walked home along Dalyell Way, Raymond Terrace.
He repeatedly told the girl to get in the car and asked her to meet up with him later.
The girl refused and ran to a nearby house where she called her mother.
The alleged offender has been described as African in appearance, aged in his mid to late 20s with scruffy black hair and a beard.
Customer attacked by machete in
Teenage girl escapes abductor
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,,24445341-1702,00.html
Teenage girl escapes latest snatch bid by Africans
A TEENAGE girl jogger has escaped from a man who tried to pull her into a car in Sydney's west.
One of the men got out of the car, spoke to the jogger then grabbed her by the arm.
But someone on the other side of the street yelled out and the girl seized her chance to pull free and run off.
The would-be abductor got back into the car which immediately drove off.
Police say they are looking for two men of African appearance.
Police seek indecent assault witnesses
ACT police are looking for witnesses to the indecent assault of a young woman on an ACTION bus last Friday.
The 18-year-old woman was harassed by a group of six men aged between 15 and 20 years old while the bus was travelling between Waramanga and the Woden bus interchange.
Police say the group was of African, Asian and Polynesian appearance.
Another assault at ‘house of horrors’
http://www.thechronicle.com.au/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3784417
African gangs assault
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24337433-2862,00.html
Zimbabwean ingested 91 heroin pellets
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24260486-29277,00.html
Robbery at
Another woman was mugged at Curtin University last night.
Police Media's Ian Hasleby said the 21-year-old woman was walking from the university bus station to the library when a man tried to steal a handbag she was carrying on her shoulder.
Mr Hasleby said the woman felt something pulling her backwards, looked around and saw the man pulling on the handbag's straps with both hands.
She screamed and tried to pull the bag away.
Mr Hasleby said the bag broke and the man ran away with it.
The bag contained only an umbrella and house keys.
The woman ran back to the bus station where a passer-by flagged down university security.
The mugger was described as being of African appearance, clean-shaven, 173cm tall and had short, dark hair.
Sudanese gang grabs woman off street
A YOUNG woman on her way to watch her boyfriend's football training session has been snatched from an Ipswich street and sexually assaulted by four men.
The 20-year-old woman was walking down Smith Street at Goodna when she was forced into a white Holden Commodore by two men about 4pm yesterday.
Police said she was then taken to an unknown location and physically and sexually assaulted for several hours.
She eventually escaped when she managed to unlock the car door and jump out at a set of traffic lights at Woodridge, about 9pm.
The woman then telephoned a friend and returned to Ipswich where she reported the incident to police.
"She's pretty shaken up with some superficial injuries," an officer said.
Detectives are now looking for four men of Sudanese heritage, one of whom had a golden front tooth.
Armed African gang in wallet grab
The group of five confronted the man at about 10pm on Redward Ave, which runs from Fosters Rd to Hampstead Rd.
They demanded he hand over his wallet and then left on foot.
African teen punches elderly volunteer unconscious
A 69-year-old woman has been punched to the ground and knocked unconscious during a robbery at a Coopers Plains charity shop.
The volunteer was closing the business on Orange Grove Road at about 4pm yesterday when two men entered and demanded cash.
A police spokesperson said after being told by the volunteer the store's money had been taken away by another employee, the men punched her and she fell to the ground and became unconscious.
Police said when she came to, the woman called an ambulance which took her to the Princess Alexandra Hospital for treatment.
The women suffered bruising on her face, a swollen nose, several loose teeth and a sore shoulder.
The men were described as African in appearance and about 16-years-old.
African wanted over takeaway robbery
African gang hunted over Victorian taxi robberies
In the latest crime, a driver was held at knifepoint on Mt Alexander Rd yesterday morning.
Two African men asking for directions at 12.45am flagged the taxi down. Another two soon joined them, and one of the thieves produced a 20cm knife and demanded a sum of cash from the driver.
The group then fled towards the Flemington Housing Ministry flats on Racecourse Rd.
The driver was unharmed.
Three hours earlier, another cab had been stopped on Mt Alexander Rd, this time by three African males who also asked for directions and then stole cash.
All five thefts were carried out in a similar manner and police believe the same men are responsible.
"The description has been exactly the same, the clothing is exactly the same. I am confident, particularly with these thefts, that it is the same people," said Sen-Constable Jennifer Booth, from the Region Three robbery taskforce.
Sen-Constable Booth said police believed the men might also have been involved in two earlier armed robberies, in Brunswick on May 21, where the driver's face and hands were slashed, and in Kensington on May 19.
Victorian Taxi Drivers' Association safety officer Tom Henderson described the attacks as a disgrace.
"They are picking on ethnic drivers. That is when they get an opportunity to get one-upmanship," Mr Henderson said. "It is easy to pick on someone totally helpless.
"This is why we insisted on compulsory safety screens."
A Victorian Taxi Directorate spokesman said that his organisation deplored any behaviour that compromised driver safety.
"We strongly encourage taxi drivers to report all crimes against them to Victoria Police," the spokesman said.
The attacks came less than a month after 500 taxi drivers staged a 22-hour protest in the CBD following the vicious stabbing of Jalvinder Singh in Clifton Hill, and just days after racial tensions between cab drivers boiled over outside a Tullamarine cafe.
Police are looking for four slim, tall African males, aged 18-20. They are believed to have been wearing dark, hooded clothes.
Sudanese and Indian taxi drivers brawl at
A 25-year-old man was later taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital with a cut above his eye, bruising and swelling.
It was initially suggested the fight was between Sudanese and Indian drivers.
However, other witnesses claim the fight began between a Somalian driver and an Indian driver, before mushrooming into a brawl between Indians and drivers from various African nations.
African gang behind Granville stabbing murder
African gang wanted over stabbing murder
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23578002-5001021,00.html
Barbaric third world rituals becoming popular in
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23454762-1248,00.html
Sudanese refugee ‘possessed’ when he killed wife
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23407914-1242,00.html
African gang attacks woman in Wagga Wagga
Mean streets of
http://www.theage.com.au/news/in-depth/insight/2008/02/22/1203467381241.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
Somali youth worker faces court over soccer match brawl
Image: http://www.downundernewslinks.com/images/news1/Ahmed_Dini.jpg
Article: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24202590-2862,00.html
Sudanese immigrant has stabbing charge upgraded
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77&ContentID=89547
No jail for African disease spreader
Image: http://www.downundernewslinks.com/images/news/LamKuoth1.jpg
Article: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23934199-2862,00.html
African disease spreader may avoid jail term
Image: http://www.downundernewslinks.com/images/news1/Lam_Kuoth.jpg
Article: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23892314-2862,00.html
African arrested over million dollar net scam
Image: http://www.downundernewslinks.com/images/news/Africanarrestedovermilliond.jpg
Article: http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23262791-948,00.html
Rwandan invader charged with rape
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23245019-3102,00.html
2007
African assaults girl at
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22989782-5001021,00.html
Blacks go wild in amusement arcade
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=adc_1198267815
Sudanese driver begs forgiveness of victim's mum (victim image)
http://news.theage.com.au/driver-begs-forgiveness-of-victims-mum/20071218-1hsz.html
African mob attacks Flemington police
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22840908-661,00.html
African gang terrorizing
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22833645-2862,00.html
Welcome to
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22754956-2862,00.html
Fifty Africans attack police outside dance party
Image: http://www.downundernewslinks.com/images/news/FlemingtonCommunityCentre.jpg
Article: http://abandonskip.blogspot.com/2007/11/melbourne-fifty-youths-attack-police.html
Africans wanted over train attack
Image: http://www.downundernewslinks.com/images/news/Policeprobetrainattack-Aficans.jpg
Article: http://www.starnewsgroup.com.au/story/50938
Ten Africans wanted over violent carjacking
African wanted over violent bag snatch
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77&ContentID=43654
Africans brawl at
Video: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc4FL94qK88
Image: http://www.downundernewslinks.com/images/news/highpointcinema.jpg
Sudanese faces 13 charges for cop attack
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22576779-661,00.html
Attack on officer is un-Australian: Andrews (victim image)
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/cop-attack-unaustralian/2007/10/11/1191696039363.html
Sudanese gang bash detective at Noble Park
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22567071-661,00.html
Cop hit by rock in
He was hit by a rock thrown at the southeastern suburb's railway station, allegedly by a young Sudanese migrant.
A youth has been charged over the attack last month, which left the officer with a broken nose and cuts.
Rank-and-file police say they do not have a problem with most local Sudanese, but some younger members of the community seemed to have no respect for the law.
Claims emerged last week that gangs of young Sudanese regularly committed crimes and intimidated people in Noble Park.
However Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon said people of Sudanese origin were not over-represented in crime statistics.
Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said last week the African refugee intake should be reduced because some, particularly from Sudan, were failing to integrate and were becoming involved in crime.
He was accused of racism.
His previously stated position had been that migration from Africa was being reduced because Australia needed to accept more people from countries such as Iraq and Burma and had already filled its African quota to July 2008.
Labor's immigration spokesman Tony Burke yesterday accused Mr Andrews of incompetence and using "new rhetoric".
"With Kevin Andrews you can't look past the possibility of incompetence," Mr Burke told ABC television.
"I don't think you can discount incompetence in him misrepresenting the reasons that have been given."
Mr Burke said he hoped the Federal Government was not using racist politics and accused Mr Andrews of providing anecdotal evidence rather than all the facts available.
Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile said the decision to cut African refugee numbers was not racially based.
Mr Vaile said the Howard Government's intake of migrants was greater than that of any other Australian government.
Policewoman speaks out after being bitten by African
A BRAVE policewoman has spoken of her fears after being bitten and bashed by a North African man in the ethnically troubled Noble Park area.
Sen-Constable Sarah Blackmore was attacked by a bashed and bleeding man she was trying to help outside a convenience store in Heatherton Rd on Sunday week ago.
But senior officers have allegedly told other police in the region that Sen-Constable Blackmore misjudged the danger and should have taken extra precautions.
The officer, in her early 30s, now has a nervous three-month wait for test results to find out if she was infected by the bleeding Sudanese man.
She said yesterday she had a duty as a police officer to check on the man's welfare, and took precautions, including wearing gloves, before approaching him.
"The next thing I know he was fists up and ready to go," she said. "He tried to bite me on the arm. He then bit my face, grabbed me on the back of the head and flung me on the ground.
"I was eating dirt.
"He had blood in his mouth and when I turned my head all I could see were his teeth going for me.
"I got teeth marks to the back of my head."
She said capsicum spray failed to stop the man attacking her, but believed a Taser gun would have been effective.
"I'm a bit upset and angry about it," she said of the incident. "I was fearing I was going to catch something.
"I was on the ground. I was worried about my gun."
It took several officers to subdue the man.
Sen-Constable Blackmore's mother, Mal, said yesterday the law should be changed to allow people in situations like that faced by her daughter to be told if their attacker had communicable diseases such as HIV or hepatitis.
She said such legislation would spare a lot of heartache during the obligatory three-month wait for blood results.
"I think legislation should be changed to protect the people who risk their lives upholding the law," Mal said yesterday.
"Political correctness (to protect criminals) has gone completely insane."
Of the three-month wait for her daughter's blood results, Mal said: "What's happened is bad enough, but sometimes the enormity of what could have happened really hits her stepdad and I.
"We're very proud of her."
Police patrolling the city of Greater Dandenong say they are sick of being put in danger and want force command to do more to end the ethnic-related violence.
One officer, who did not want to be named, said police had been told to either wait for backup or drive on if they were outnumbered by ethnic gangs.
"Imagine what the community would think if we saw three to five Sudanese people bashing or robbing someone and we just drove off," the officer said.
Region 5 Assistant Commissioner Paul Evans said transit police and foot patrols in Noble Park had been increased.
A man charged over the attack on Sen-Constable Blackmore has appeared in Melbourne Magistrates' Court charged with intentionally and recklessly causing injury, two counts of resisting arrest and several counts of assaulting police.
He was remanded in custody to appear in court again on October 3.
It is believed he has been in Australia just three weeks.
Police try to allay gang warfare fears
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22492874-1243,00.html
Imported black basketballer jailed for sex attack
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Vietnamese, Sudanese and Tongans clash at birthday party
POLICE have arrested two more youths over a gang attack that turned a birthday party into a bloodbath.
A 16-year-old from Kings Park and 17-year-old from Taylors Hill were expected to be charged yesterday after being interviewed at Keilor Downs police station.
At least 30 youths gatecrashed a private 16th birthday party at St Albans on Friday night, wielding machetes, iron bars and broken bottles. One youth, 17, was charged on Saturday.
It is believed some youths who attended the party sought retribution on Saturday night, scouring train stations in Melbourne's western suburbs for the perpetrators.
Some of the armed teenagers who stormed the party are believed to be members of the notorious SnK (St Albans and Kings Park) gang.
Eight people were injured in the attack that sent the party, with more than 150 invited guests, into chaos at the venue, hired out by the St Albans Saints soccer club.
One victim was released from Sunshine Hospital yesterday afternoon; two others remained in hospital.
Three victims, aged between 14-17, were seriously injured. Two suffered fractured skulls and the other a lacerated kidney.
Another teen, stabbed in the back three times, also had his eye slashed. The father of the boy celebrating his birthday was smashed over the head with a bottle as he tried to shield his son.
It is the latest in a spate of ethnic gang warfare outbreaks in Melbourne's west.
Liberal MP Bernie Finn told Parliament last month he was disturbed by the gang activity he saw on a recent tour of Sunshine with local youth worker Les Twentyman.
"Gangs of youths indulge in violence," Mr Finn said.
"It is gang warfare . . . it is ethnic gang warfare on the streets of Sunshine."
The Upper House member for Western Metropolitan said he saw groups of teenagers, in school uniform, gather in their ethnic tribes.
"Violence appeared to be brewing," Mr Finn said.
Mr Twentyman said the problems started in November 2005 when three Sudanese girls were being hassled by a group of teenagers on a train.
The girls text-messaged friends and about 40 Sudanese were waiting when the train reached Sunshine station. The teenagers were badly bashed.
"It's been tit for tat ever since," Mr Twentyman said.
He said the main gangs were of Vietnamese, Sudanese and Tongan origin.
Mr Twentyman said he'd been told youths were planning revenge attacks and police needed to act swiftly to quell the violence. He also accused MPs on both sides of politics of sitting on their hands.
Sunshine traders say gang violence is affecting business.
Arthur Gore, of Sunshine Mowers, said gangs were using everything from fence palings and steel poles to the handles of shopping trolleys as weapons.
African wanted over
Vietnamese and Sudanese gangs clash in Fitzroy
THREE people were stabbed when a gang of youths, armed with knives, raided their home in Fitzroy, and a fight broke out.
Police were called to a Napier St housing commission flat after up to six youths forced their way in armed with knives about 1.30am yesterday.
The fight ensued when the group was confronted by two teenagers and another man inside the flat.
A 17-year-old male was stabbed to his stomach and leg, while a 25-year-old man was stabbed in the groin. Both were taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
The third victim, 15, was stabbed in the buttock and was taken to St Vincent's Hospital.
A 16-year-old Richmond youth was arrested and remanded in custody.
He will appear in a Children's Court today.
Yarra City councillor Stephen Jolly said violence was common.
"Clashes between Sudanese youth and the more established Vietnamese youth are commonplace," he said.
"Some of these kids are war orphans and even ex-child soldiers and have nowhere near enough support to integrate successfully into a new society."
Cr Jolly said better facilities, security and lighting, and more community workers were needed.
Non-white invader attempts to rob Victorian bakery
The attempted robbery happened between noon and 1pm in Douglas Street, Noble Park.
A man entered the bakery and asked the shop attendant to hand him money from the till.
Police said the startled attendant went to lock the till when the man lunged over the counter, grabbed her right hand and slammed it on a glass counter. Police said the counter was damaged as a result.
The man then pushed the 22-year-old attendant into a bread rack before fleeing the bakery.
Police said the suspect was described as black, with a solid build, and 170cm.
Sudanese refugee drink driving and crime epidemic
He knew what he was saying was dangerous and there was no way he would put his name to it.
But it had to be said: "The Sudanese kids are a real problem.
"You pull them over in the car. They are drunk. They don't have a licence. Some of them are only 14.
"You tell them they'll be charged and they laugh at you. At home, they'd be shot or beaten.
"Whatever we do to them just doesn't matter. The next day, there they are again, out on the road.
"Chances are they'll be drunk or off their heads on something."
At the time it seemed an over reaction, the words of a frustrated young officer working too hard at trying to do the right thing.
But a check with his superiors confirmed his message.
There was and is a serious and continuing problem with unlicensed and drunk driving among Sudanese refugees in Melbourne.
The courts have seen the bloody evidence. Remember Taban Gany?
In May 2005, 18 months after arriving from Sudan, he got drunk and drove his car into a Dandenong school yard, injuring six children.
He had been caught drink driving twice before. He had no licence.
But this problem does not end on the roads.
There is now increasing evidence of a culture of violence imported to this country with some refugees.
There is no point dodging around that fact for fear of being called racist.
Obviously, not all Sudanese refugees are bad people. Most are not.
And those charged with offences are innocent unless proven guilty.
But it is equally obvious that there are specific problems around some of these people.
These problems are now recognised by police, youth workers, politicians and the Sudanese community itself.
It is too easy to blame the perpetrators. Of course, they carry ultimate responsibility for their actions, and must be punished.
But we need to look also at the system that brought them here and the way that system copes with them and protects the rest of us.
The case this week of Hakeem Hakeem brings this into focus.
One month after arriving in Australia this man pumped himself full of alcohol, injected amphetamines, and inhaled paint.
In separate incidents, he then repeatedly raped two 16-year-old girls, bashed and raped a 63-year-old woman in her own home and terrorised a 16-year-old couple, forcing them to have sex while he watched.
For all that, Hakeem Hakeem was sentenced to 24 years in jail with a minimum of 17 years.
There is now debate about whether he should serve that time or be deported back to the hellhole from which he fled before he abused our kindness.
But wait. How did this man get into Australia? You don't develop a serious drug problem within weeks.
He clearly brought it with him and should never have got through the system that supposedly filters refugees.
New minister for Immigration Kevin Andrews agrees and has begun an inquiry. He also believes this man should serve his time before being deported.
But that leaves two questions. How many potential rapists, drunk drivers or lunatic gang members, Sudanese or otherwise, are being imported through a determination to be compassionate?
And how far does that compassion stretch before it snaps into a backlash?
To her credit, chairwoman of the Sudanese Communityof Victoria Shroug Mohamed does not dodge the problem.
She admits drunk driving and unlicensed driving is a big issue in the community.
While she is appalled by the crimes of Hakeem Hakeem, she argues it would be inhumane to deport him and suggests violence can spring from people who have spent long periods in refugee camps, or in battered countries such as the Sudan.
"There is trauma and we can't deny the post trauma reaction after they come here", she said.
"We must recognise that the journey has been hard.
"The implication of this journey could be to make people prone to be violent, specifically if they do not have the right care when they come to Australia."
History might not support her.
The thousands of victims of the Nazis who fled to Australia after World War II had lived through the horror and violence of orchestrated mass murder and the torture of concentration camps.
Their trauma could hardly have been more extreme but how many turned to rape?
How many joined gangs and roamed the streets looking for ethnic warfare?
There are now about 18,000 Sudanese living in Victoria. Many are easily identifiable and therefore easy targets for the racially based criticism that some ratbag Right-wingers are eager to inflict.
But there is a problem and evidence of it is not racially based or simply anecdotal.
Youth worker Les Twentyman has identified it and calls this a "divided nation."
The Police Association has identified it and describes the Sudanese trouble makers in particular as being "lawless."
Now, even the community has identified the problem, and called for help.
This is urgent, and must be treated as such.
It is not enough to say that a violent drug taking rapist has "slipped through the system", as Mr Andrews describes it.
The system must be tightened. It is not enough to say the Federal Government is "putting in place" programs to help these people avoid breaking the law.
That does not help Hakeem's victims. But it is reassuring that after barely 24 hours in the job, Kevin Andrews has had several briefings on problems in the Sudanese community and is already willing to describe them as "unique."
How he reacts is crucial. For the right reasons, this Government welcomed these people to Australia, but it must now recognise it has imported with them an unexpected degree of dislocation, violence, and danger.
Obviously, the rapists, drunk drivers and street thugs must face punishment.
But government policy has caused this danger. It must find answers.
Inquiry into Sudanese refugee rampage
IMMIGRATION Minister Kevin Andrews has ordered an investigation into how a troubled Sudanese refugee was allowed to settle in Australia only to embark on a three-day rampage of bloody violence and rape within weeks of arriving.
Mr Andrews will also consider deporting Hakeem Hakeem after the 21-year-old has served at least part of his 24 years in jail for the drug and alcohol-fuelled frenzy two years ago.
Hakeem committed a series of crimes over the three days including rape, armed robbery and false imprisonment, starting with the sexual assault of a teenage girl in a scout hall.
The next day he raped a 63-year-old woman, bashing her so severely that she had to spend a fortnight in hospital.
The following day he returned to the scout hall in Melbourne's east and attacked a young couple, forcing them to have sex in front of him. He also raped the 16-year-old girl and cut the hair of both teenagers to keep as a memento.
Hakeem arrived in Australia on February 9, 2005 after fleeing Sudan with his parents, three brothers and three sisters.
He embarked on his rampage, described by a judge as "reprehensible in the extreme", on March 10.
The new Immigration Minister said he was at a loss to explain how Hakeem managed to get into Australia.
"All I can say is that the information I have been provided with this morning is that in terms of the checks that were made, there was nothing that was shown in those checks that at the time made officials here in Australia wary of allowing him to come to the country," Mr Andrews said.
Mr Andrews added that he had asked his department to investigate the Hakeem case.
He also said he was concerned about problems Sudanese refugees were experiencing settling in Australia.
"We are talking about people who come from frankly a very violent circumstance," he said.
"This was a country that has been subject to civil war, there is murder and mayhem, we have got boy soldiers - all of those sorts of things are part of the background of that region, unfortunately, of Africa at the present time. So we are putting in place programs that will help these people."
His comments come a month after The Australian highlighted law and order problems among Sudanese and other African migrants in Melbourne, particularly among young men who had been exposed to extreme violence in their homeland.
Police say Sudanese a gang threat
VICTORIAN police are being urged to set up a special taskforce to tackle gang violence and lawlessness among young African migrants living in Melbourne's inner-city housing commission estates.
The push - led by rank-and-file police and terrified neighbours - is backed by the state's powerful police union, which claims sections of the African community need to be "properly educated" in Australian values.
"The Sudanese are very difficult to deal with - they come from a lawless background and they really have to be properly educated about Australian society's standards," the Police Association secretary, Senior Sergeant Paul Mullett, told The Australian.
Police in Melbourne's inner north and social workers are demanding resources to help deal with the problem.
"What's actually emerging in Victoria is the establishment of in particular youth gangs and ethnic gangs, and our members just don't have the resourcing support to proactively police these gangs," Sergeant Mullett said.
Police union members who worked around the high-rise public housing blocks in areas such as Flemington and Fitzroy were worried about their safety and becoming more reluctant to work there, he said.
He called for a special taskforce or for departments to "establish taskforces of their own" to tackle gang activity.
Sergeant Mullett warned that more proactive police programs were needed to build better communication with African communities and prevent group violence from escalating to the levels seen in Sydney's Cronulla riots.
"A core function of policing is to connect with the community and to connect with different races," he said.
Victorian Community Council on Crime and Violence member Bob Falconer said yesterday some police and academics had failed to acknowledge the existence of street gangs because they did not want to be seen as singling out the ethnic groups involved.
"Invariably there are ethnic-based issues and often visible minorities involved, and political sensitivity of that seems to frighten them off the issue," said the former Victorian deputy police commissioner. He said while a taskforce would not be a "silver bullet" in overcoming all of the problems, it would improve the cultural and social understanding between the community and the authorities.
Youth worker Les Twentyman said while there were African gangs involved in crime and violence, there were also gangs from other ethnic origins such as Pacific Islanders and Lebanese. He said gangs were an escalating problem that would eventually lead to "no-go zones" in Melbourne if they were not properly addressed by police.
Inspector Scott Mahony, who handles multicultural policing issues in Melbourne's western suburbs, said Victoria Police was working on improving its rapport with the African community.
He said a DVD was being produced "in their own language presented by people in their own community that will explain to them what is the role of police in the situation".
Inspector Mahony said while he did not believe there was a problem with gangs, police needed to improve their understanding of African culture.
Jesuit Social Services chief Julie Edwards said her organisation, which has worked with the African communities in Flemington for more than two years, had seen no evidence such gangs existed.
While boredom and unemployment affected some young Africans in the area, she said, "I haven't seen that translated to violence".
2006
Police fear
Sudanese refugee on visa rapes woman in Toowoomba
Racial tensions in
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