- Australia’s most notorious cult leader is close to death in a suburban Melbourne nursing home as remaining members of the sect she formed in the 1960s scramble for control, sources say.
Anne Hamilton-Byrne, 83, led the infamous Melbourne cult, The Family. She has had dementia since 2007 and lives in a nursing home in Wantirna South. Police and legal sources and also former victims of the cult say Hamilton-Byrne is now incapacitated.
From the 1960s she was the cult’s head at properties in the Dandenongs and Lake Eildon where dozens of children, obtained through adoption scams were allegedly kept, treated cruelly and administered LSD.
The children were told she was a living God and were taught extreme Christianity and Eastern mysticism. Their hair was dyed blonde and they were made to dress identically.
A child victim from the 1970s – now living in regional Victoria – recently visited Ms Hamilton-Byrne. The man, a Pentecostal Christian, said the visit was in the spirit of forgiveness. “She was in her final lap,” he said. “As I walked in, she was asleep on her bed, and she woke up and started rambling about her dogs being burned in a bushfire. There is a total disconnect from reality.”
Another person who has contact with Ms Hamilton-Byrne said: “She is in I’ll-health. But she’s holding her ground.” Ms Hamilton-byrne’s financial and legal affairs are handled by two key supporters, Geoffrey Dawes and Helen McCoy.
Mrs McCoy runs a wildlife rescue service in Gembrook and is also the principal of a school for disabled children. Neither would comment.
Along with other key supporters, including Michael Stevenson-Helmer, Peter Lyall (otherwise known as James Buchanan), David Munroe and Oliver Mackay-Dalkeith, Mr Dawes and Mrs McCoy are directors of a company called Life for all Creatures, registered to Mrs McCoy’s Gembrook home and live in the Dandenong Ranges. Ms Hamilton-Byrne was a director until 2005.
Sources said a power struggle had emerged in the sect between Mr Dawes and Mr Stevenson-Helmer over a succession plan once Ms Hamilton-Byrne dies. Mr Stevenson-Helmer, a long-time member who is very close to Ms Hamilton-Byrne, denied she was near death.
“A a true yogi, Anne will go when she is willing and ready,” he said.
He confirmed the sect still worshipped in the Dandenongs. “We meditate,” he said. “You surmise we are secretive but we have never hidden anything from you people.”
The cult was originally broken up when Australian Federal Police and a state government agency raided the property at Lake Eildon in 1987 and six children were taken into care.
In 1994 Ms Hamilton-Byrne and her then-husband were extradited from the United States to Australia to lead guilty to perjury – the only charge they ever faced.
Since 2010 Ms Hamilton-Byrne’s lawyers have used her dementia as a defence in several civil court actions by former victims trying to sue. All have been settled out of court for amounts around $250,000.
The victims have sought damages for ongoing mental health problems from abuse and cruelty suffered, false imprisonment, mind control and use of drugs.
In 2010 her physical health also began deteriorating after she fell and fractured bones.
Ms Hamilton-Byrne still owns at least three properties in the Dandenongs, including the original cult headquarters on the Mount Dandenong Tourist Road, and several overseas. Her estate is estimated to be worth between $10 million and $20 million – Chris Johnston

- Serial killer Peter Dupas could face another murder charge over the stabbing death of grandmother Kathleen Downes.
Detectives will today appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court to apply to interview Dupas in Barwon Prison.
For several years police have been progressing historical cases against Dupas, who is the prime suspect in the murders of Mrs Downes and Renita Brunton.
Mrs Downes, 95, was murdered in a Brunswick nursing home in 1997.
One theory investigators believe may have motivated Dupas to kill Ms Downes was that he resented the hours his girlfriend, a nurse, worked at another home.
The triple killer was interviewed over the murder in 2001, but refused to comment.
Former lawyer Andrew Fraser has provided information over the murder of Ms Downes.
Fraser helped convict Dupas over the stabbing death of Mersina Halvagis when he testified Dupas had confessed killing her to him in a jailhouse pantomime.
Fraser also told investigators Dupas indicated to him that “they will never get me for that” in reference to the murder of Ms Downes.
Dupas allegedly referred to Ms Downes as “the other old sheila down the road” to Fraser while discussing the Halvagis murder at Fawkner Cemetery.
Mr Fraser and Dupas were inmates in a Port Phillip Prison protection unit at the time.
Ms Downes was a resident at the Brunswick Lodge nursing home when an intruder stabbed her to death at 6:30am on December 31st, 1997 – almost two months after the murder of Ms Halvagis.
A homicide investigation revealed Dupas had telephoned the nursing home and asked for Ms Downes some time before her murder.
The Director of Public Prosecutions is expected to review the case if significant new evidence is found.
Dupas is also a suspect in the killing of Helen McMahon – who may have been his first murder victim.
Ms Downes’ three children have campaigned for Dupas to be charged and tried or for an inquest to be held over their mother’s murder.
Dupas is regarded as one of Victoria’s worst serial killers.
He is serving concurrent life sentences over the murders of Nicole Paterson and Margaret Maher – Anthony Dowsley

- Heavily armed police surrounded a Norlane home for three hours after an elderly man allegedly fired his gun following a neighbourhood dispute.
Hundreds of onlookers gathered as police from the Critical Incident Response Team and Special Operations Group descended on the Jay Street property about 1pm yesterday.
Nearby homes were placed into lockdown as specialist officers attempted to make contact with the man.
SOG police arrested the resident inside his home shortly before 4pm.
A neighbour, who asked not to be named, said she saw the man walk into his front yard, point the gun to the sky and fire one round into the air before returning inside – Herald Sun

- Police have revealed a breakthrough in the murder investigation of slain horse trainer Les Samba.
Detectives released a previously unseen CCTV image of two men they say spoke to Mr Samba, at Crown Casino, where he was staying, just hours before he was gunned down on Beaconsfield Parade, Middle Park, on 27th February 2011.
It is hoped the two unknown men can be identified and shed new light on the two year old case.
Police stressed the men were not regarded as suspects, but may unwittingly hold vital clues.
“We haven’t been able to identify those two individuals, so if we could get them identified so we could speak to them, that would be good,” Purana Taskforce Detective Mark Butterworth told Channel 10′s Wantedlast night.
It came as Mr Samba’s daughter, Victoria, renewed appeals for information about her dad’s killer.
Ms Samba, who is expecting her third child at the end of the year, told the Herald Sun nothing would help her family overcome the loss of her father.
“My daughter Hilary was three when she lost her grandfather,” she said.
“I’m really sad my other two children will never have the chance to meet him,” she added – Ruth Lamperd and Jon Kaila

- People not coping with mental illness are often among the 35,000 Australians who disappear each year, the Australian Federal Police say.
Launching National Missing Persons Week yesterday, Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Andrew Colvin said it was important family and friends of those at risk recognised the signs of people struggling and at risk of disappearing.
“Research shows that one of the factors which may contribute to someone going missing is poor mental health and the impact that has on a person’s ability to cope with life’s challenges, Mr Colvin said.
“The 2013 campaign aims to encourage people to look out for signs that someone they know may not be coping and to seek help before they disappear – Herald Sun

- Australia’s cyber security systems are in a mess and require immediate political action to protect vital national security and economic assets from cyber predators.
“Malicious cyber activity” is ranked number three on the list of seven key national security risks, and in 2012 cyber criminals hit 5.4 million Australians and cost the national economy a massive $1.65 billion.
During 2011-12, there were 400 cyber hits against government systems by foreign governments, including China and non-state players.
An Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) report out yesterday slams the lack of political action and the fact that no new funding has been provided for the establishment of an Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC).
That centre was supposed to be up and running by the end of this year as the front line in the war against cyber crime and cyber spying.
It will include staff from the Defence Intelligence Organisation, ASIO, Australian Federal Police and Australian Crime Commission.
“Having a central pool of funds for the ACSC would give impetus for each organisation to further their collaborative work rather than worrying about fulfilling their own budgetary requirements – Ian McPhedran

- Detectives have been granted up to five hours, but no more, to quiz serial killer Peter Dupas over the 1997 stabbing death of grandmother Kathleen Downes.
Detective Sergeant Michael Daly told Melbourne Magistrates Court Dupas was a prime suspect.
He said information provided by former lawyer Andrew Fraser had led to the request to reinterview Dupas. Dupas was questioned over the killing back in 2001 but refused to comment.
Detective Sergeant Daly said Fraser had made a statement detailing conversations with Dupas while the pair were inmates at Port Phillip Prison. Fraser was jailed in 2001 for smuggling cocaine.
The disgraced ex-solicitor is to receive a sizeable chunk of a $1 million reward for information he gave that helped convict Dupas for the 1997 murder of Mersina Halvagis.
Dupas has long been a suspect in the stabbing murder of Ms Downes at a Brunswick nursing home.
Detective Sergeant Daly told the court investigations had found Dupas’ home phone was used to contact Ms Downes nursing home twice in November 1997. The court heard another call was allegedly made on New Year’s Eve that year, just two hours before Ms Downes was stabbed to death.
Dupas was yesterday reminded he was not obliged to answer detectives’ questions and that his right to remain silent was not affected.
Dupas allegedly referred to Ms Downes as “the other old sheila down the road” to Fraser while discussing the Halvagis murder.
Fraser is said to have told investigators Dupas indicated that “they will never get me for that” in reference to the murder of Ms Downes.
Ms Downes was a resident at the Brunswick Lodge nursing home when an intruder stabbed her to death at 6:30am on December 31st, 1997, almost two months after the murder of Ms Halvagis.
The Director of Public Prosecutors is expected to review the case if significant new evidence is found.
Ms Downes three children have campaigned for Dupas to be tried or for an inquest to be held.
Dupas, regarded as one of Victoria’s worst serial killers, is serving concurrent life terms for the murders of Ms Halvagis, Nicole Paterson, and Margaret Maher – Shannon Deery & Anthony Dowsley

- A three-day undercover sweep across the US has led to the arrest of 150 suspected pimps and the removal of 105 children, the FBI says.
The children, aged from 13 to 17, have been taken to shelters and other safe settings. The sweep involved 230 federal, state and local law enforcement officials in 76 cities – Herald Sun

- A bandit who threatens his victims with a handwritten note has struck again in Melbourne’s north, robbing an Essendon gaming venue on Saturday night. Fawkner Embona Taskforce detectives are investigating at least three robberies believed to have been carried out by the same bandit. The robber threatens staff with a written note and claims he is armed. Two venues have fallen victim to the bandit: a gaming venue in Mount Alexander Road, Moonee Ponds, and a liquor store in High Street, Yarraville, both robbed on July 21st. Police believe he struck again last Saturday at 12:45am at a gaming venue in Napier Street Essendon. The attendant gave him money and he was last seen in Brewster Street. He is described as of Middle Eastern appearance, aged between 30 and 40, with a dark beard and was wearing a beanie, grey jacket and jeans – Deborah Gough

- Former high-profile lawyer Andrew Fraser has again implicated triple murderer Peter Dupas in an unsolved killing.
After recently being paid an undisclosed sum from the $1 million reward offered for the then unsolved murder of Mersina Halvagis, it has been revealed that Mr Fraser has made another statement against Dupas.
Detective Sergeant Michael Daly on Tuesday told Melbourne Magistrate Dominic Lennon that Mr Fraser’s latest statement was derived from conversations he and with Dupas when they were in prison together in 2005. Detective Sergeant Daly said there was a number of murders discussed including an alleged reference by Dupas to the “old sheila down the road”. The officer said investigators believed this was a reference to Kathleen Downes whose murder in December 1997 he applied to interview Dupas about on Tuesday.
Mr Lennon granted the application for police to interview Dupas for five hours at Barwon Prison – Steve Butcher

- Law enforcement authorities rescued 105 children and arrested 150 pimps and other people in the largest child sex-trafficking crackdown in US history, the FBI said.
Authorities used social media websites and classified advertisements as they set up the sweep, according to Ron Hosko, an assistant director for the FBI. The three-day operation covered 76 cities and included 230 federal, state and local law enforcement groups, he said.
“Sex-trafficking among children remains one of the most prevalent, violent and unconscionable crimes in this country,” Mr Hosko said.
“Those who exploit children should know that we, this team, will continue to seek them out and to bring them to justice. We are trying to take this crime out of the shadows and put a spotlight on it.”
Previous operations have targeted major sporting events, such as the NFL’s Super Bowl and the NCAA’s Final Four basketball tournament. Multiple children have been recovered from those events in the past, Mr Hosko said.
“We see a gathering of people with excess money and interested in the festivities and frolic that go around high-profile sporting events, and this seems to be a part of that,” Mr Hosko.
The operation was the seventh of its kind as federal and state law enforcement authorities have increased their focus on child sex-trafficking in recent years, and it included seizures of drugs, money, cars and guns worth about $US165,000 ($180,000). The youngest child recovered was 13, Mr Hosko said.
The July 26th-28th operation, known as “Cross Country”, was undertaken as part of the FBI’s “Innocence Lost” initiative. Since 2003, that effort had resulted in the recovery of more than 2700 children, the FBI said.
Drew Oosterbaan, the chief of the US Justice Department’s child exploitation and obscenity section, said a range of laws were being used to prosecute the individuals arrested.
Over the course of the initiative, authorities had obtained more than 1350 convictions, the FBI said.
The rescued juveniles, meanwhile, face a hard road of recovery from what officials say can be a common history of sexual, emotional and physical abuse. Nearly all of the prostitutes rescued this past weekend were female. “This is a particularly vulnerable population,” Mr Oosterbaan said.
Many of the teenagers caught up on the sex trade come from broken homes, officials say.
Mr Hosko said the pimps may recruit their prey relatively gently, using compliments and rewards, but then will use violence and drugs to keep the juveniles in line.
Apart from sporting events, customers are often found through online advertising. While popular US classified website Craigslist doesn’t include “escorts” listings, rival Backpage still does – Phil Mattingly

- Julian Assange has defended wikileak’s ability to protect its sources after US soldier Bradley Manning’s conviction for espionage.
Assange said yesterday’s verdicts against Manning, who leaked an estimated 250,000 diplomatic cables and 500,000 classified military documents to WikiLeaks, was “national security extremism”.
A military judge acquitted Manning of “aiding the enemy” but convicted him of espionage, theft and fraud.
The 25-year-old faces up to 136 years in prison.
Assange, 42, said the former US intelligence analyst was “the most important journalistic source the world has ever seen” whose disclosures had exposed war crimes, sparked revolutions, and induced democratic reform.
Speaking from inside Ecuador’s embassy in London, he said the espionage conviction was the first in the US of a whistleblower.
“It is a dangerous precedent. It is a short-sighted judgement that cannot be tolerated and it must be reversed,” he said.
Assange said Manning could appeal, ultimately to the US Supreme Court.
WikiLeaks wouldn’t rest until the “hero” was free.
“There was only ever one just outcome from this trial and that was an acquittal.”
Assange said it was still safe to blow the whistle to WikiLeaks. Manning was undone by a US informer who sold him out to the FBI.
“Our processes have been successful,” he said. “No evidence has been adduced from inside WikiLeaks, or from its personnel or its operations, against Bradley Manning.”
He said there was a “conspicuous absence” of evidence a single person had been harmed by the leaks.
And the US had never claimed Manning worked for a foreign power, despite charging him with espionage – Herald Sun

- A judge has declined to impose a gag order in the capital murder trial of Fort Hood massacre accused Major Nidal Hasan after an FBI transcript of a conversation between him and a television news reporter was released to the media.
In his conversation with an al-Jazeera reporter, the US Army psychiatrist, charged with killing 12 soldiers and a civilian in a November 5th, 2009, shooting spree, made a now-famous refrain that he felt guilty for serving the US Army.
“I would like to begin by representing to almighty Allah and to apologise to the mujahideen…the believers and the innocent,” he was quoted as saying in the transcript of a July 15th, 2011, jail phone call.
“I ask for their forgiveness and their prayers. I ask for their forgiveness for participating in the illegal and immoral aggression against Muslims…their religion…and their lands. It has resulted in the death…destruction…and deception of many innocent men and women.”
Prosecutors opened a hearing on Wednesday, Texas time, by asking the judge, Colonel Tara Osborn, to reconsider a gag order after parts of the two-year-old transcript appeared in the media.
Major Hasan sent copies of the document to the Killeen Daily Herald and a Fox News affiliate. The remarks were similar to comments he has made in recent weeks when he asked the judge to allow him to tell jurors that he did not wish to wear his army uniform.
The Austin American-Statesman reported that Major Hasan claimed his camouflage uniform “represents the enemy of Islam”.
“I can’t take any pride in wearing this uniform,” Major Hasan told Colonel Osborn.
“I want the panel to know that, that I am being forced to wear it.” Colonel Osborn rejected the request. Still, Major Hasan continues to wear a thick beard in violation of army regulations only days before his trial begins next week.
He is charged with shooting 13 people at Fort Hood’s Soldier Readiness Processing Centre and wounding 32 others, some severely.
Major Hasan made no objections in the proceeding. He is acting as his own lawyer – Sig Christenson

Nidal Hasan

- A woman who was killed in a “vicious attack” in her Pakenham home was found by her 11-year-old twin daughters.
Kylie Blackwood, a mother of three who worked in a nearby women’s clothing store and is the wife of a local real estate agent, was found dead on Thursday afternoon on Melbourne’s south-east.
Detective Inspector John Potter from the homicide squad said the twins came home from school to find their 42-year-old mother dead at their Mccaffery Rise home about 3:40pm.
She was reportedly found bleeding heavily on the couch. “The daughters were extremely traumatised by what they’ve seen. They’ve come home from school…and they found their mother in the house, and gone to a neighbour for help,” Inspector Potter said.
Mrs Blackwood also had a 13-year-old son with her husband Peter Blackwood, the owner of Harcourts Pakenham. The police have cleared Mr Blackwood, and Inspector Potter said the victim was a part of a “normal, suburban family…who was subject to a vicious attack”.
Inspector Potter said there was no sign of forced entry, and that “the garage door was up” when the body was discovered.
He said no weapons were recovered from the scene, and would not comment on how Mrs Blackwood died.
Police are investigating whether the assault is linked to other crimes in the area.
“What we’re looking at is for [to potentially] link it to other crimes! such as burglaries, and hence our public appeal for help.”
Police are interested in speaking to anyone who may have noticed suspicious behaviour or anything unusual in Mccaffery Rise and surrounding streets around school hours on Thursday, and in the days before the victim’s body was found.
“This is a vicious act. A woman in her own home [has] been attacked, and we want to get to the bottom of it,” Inspector Potter said.
Neighbour Aileen Schmidt, speaking to 3AW, described Mrs Blackwood as a devoted mother and wife.
She said it was heartbreaking to see the family so distraught – Nino Bucci & Caroline Zielinski

- Police investigating a frightening sexual assault of a woman pushing a pram in Melbourne’s west earlier this year have arrested a 14-year-old boy.
Detectives allege the woman was walking along Holehouse Street, Sunshine North, on April 16th when a male approached her about 3pm.
The woman was grabbed from behind and the male forced his hand down her top. He later grabbed her by the throat, police said in April, and tried to kiss the woman and put his hands down her pants.
The child in the pram was not injured, but the woman had minor injuries to her hands and upper body.
A police spokesman said on Friday that the boy was assisting police with their inquiries – Adrian Lowe

- One of the three women held captive and brutalised by Ariel Castro in his Cleveland home declared to a spellbound courtroom that she would overcome all that has happened to her.
“I spent 11 years in hell,” Michelle Knight told Castro at a hearing where he was sentenced to life without parole plus 1000 years in prison. “Now, your hell is just beginning.”
Cadres described himself as a sick person struggling with a sexual addiction, but insisted he was not abusive by nature.
“I know what I did was wrong, but I am not a violent person,” said the former school bus driver and musician, who pleaded guilty to 937 felony counts including rape, assault and kidnapping.
Of his three captives, who were repeatedly bound, beaten and raped over the course of a decade and were repeatedly deprived of food as well as their freedom, Castro said: “I simply kept them there without them being able to leave.”
Castro lured each of his victims to his home by offering them rides and then lying to them about what was inside his residence, a police detective testified at the sentencing hearing. He offered Ms Knight a puppy, told Amanda Berry that she could visit his daughter, whom Berry knew, and asked Gina DeJesus for help moving a stereo speaker.
Each of the women told police that they trusted Castro, in part because they knew at least one of his teenage or young adult children.
Within minutes of getting each girl inside the house, Detective Andrew Harasimchuk said, Castro tied them up and raped them. It was an immediate and horrific beginning to a decade of physical, sexual and emotional abuse.
During her captivity, Ms Berry became pregnant by Castro and gave birth to a child, now six years old. Ms Knight has told authorities that Castro impregnated her multiple times as well, and then starved, beat and mistreated her until she miscarried.
“You took 11 years of my life away, and I have got it back,” said Ms Knight, the only one of the three victims to testify in court. “I will live on; you will die a little every day.”
As part of his plea deal, Castro, 53, received a sentence of life with no chance of parole for aggravated murder on a charge of forced miscarriage. He also received 1000 years for kidnap, rape, assault and other charges.
He was ordered to have no contact with his victims, including his six-year-old daughter.
Both Ms Berry and Ms DeJesus were represented in court by relatives, who made statements on their behalf.
Sylvia Colon, a cousin of Ms DeJesus, said her family was eager to close this horrific chapter of their lives. “Our beloved family member thrives,” Ms Colon said. “She laughs, she swims, she dances…she will finish school, go to college, fall in love and get married.”
Ms Colon then turned towards Castro, who wore a prison jumpsuit and was seated at the defence table, and addressed him in Spanish. According to translations posted on Twitter, she said: “God have mercy on your soul.”
Beth Serrano, Ms Berry’s sister, said she “is strong and beautiful inside and out, and she is do jog better every day”.
Ms Serrano spoke tearfully about her family’s desire not to revisit the captivity in public and to keep details of the ordeal private, so that Ms Berry could explain it to her young daughter in her own way, when it was right. “Amanda did not control anything for a long time. Can we just let her have control over this, so she can protect her daughter?” Ms Serrano said. “She will do anything to protect her daughter.” – Debbi Wilgoren

- A witness has told police he saw a suspicious man “casing” the home of slain mother Kylie Blackwood hours before her twin daughters found her dead.
The witness – a tradesman working nearby – later said he saw the same man running down the street with “something like a parcel” under his arm.
A neighbour has also told detectives she heard screams come from the family home.
Mrs Blackwood’s 11-year-old twins found her on the lounge when returning to their Mccaffery Rise home in Pakenham after school on Thursday.
Neighbour Hanadi Fahd wiped away tears as she told the Herald Sun of how the terrified girls ran into her home screaming “mummy is bleeding”.
“The girls are very good friends with my children,” she said. “They had just come home from school.
“I ran over there and when I went inside I saw her just sitting there on the lounge like she was watching TV.
“I stayed with her and kept rubbing her leg and telling her she’d be alright and that the ambulance was on its way. But there was so much blood. She was already gone.”
Ms Fahd, 41, said paramedics arrived about 4pm. Mrs Blackwood had suffered horrific injuries to her hands, face and torso, believed to be from a knife.
Family friend Jamie Ryder, who lives three houses away, said the usually quiet suburban street would never be the same.
A tradesman working at Mr Ryder’s house could hold the key to police finding Mrs Blackwood’s killer.
He was having lunch in his car parked at the top of Mccaffery Rise when he saw a man acting suspiciously on the street about 11:30am.
The tradie returned to work, but then recalled to police how he noticed Mrs Blackwood’s black SUV return home soon after.
She reportedly opened the garage door and parked the car inside, before going to a wheelie bin in the driveway, and going inside.
The next glance down the street from the young tradesman saw the suspicious man “high tailing it out of the court” and turning left onto Balmoral Way, towards Eagle Drive.
He said the man appeared to be carrying something under his arm.
Another neighbour told police she heard screams shortly after 10am.
Cardinia Shire councillor Kate Lempriere said the Blackwood family had been Pakenham community linchpins for generations.
Cr Lempriere, whose family has a legal firm next door to the Blackwood’s real estate agency, said the tragedy had shocked the area.
The former mayor said Mrs Blackwood was well-liked and respected.
As neighbours and friends left flowers on the Blackwood’s family’s doorstep yesterday, five homicide squad detectives scoured the area, doorknocking homes in hope of finding crucial information that could help lead them to her killer.
Police said on Friday they had found nothing in Mrs Blackwood’s background that offered any motive for the murder.
Mrs Blackwood’s husband, Peter, and their children were last night staying with family – Rebekah Cavanagh & Mark Buttler

- A pregnant ice addict in charge of issuing permits at the airport stole almost $90,000 from her employers in a year.
Rebecca Dessman dudded Australia Pacific Airport Melbourne Corporation of $86,773 by manipulating the cash register process and pocketing the money from her fraudulent bookkeeping.
The security services coordinator was in charge of issuing various permits and asset cards for the airport.
The Broadmeadows Magistrates Court heard Dessman would make cash reversals on sales for hire car and airport driving permits and then pocket the money from the till.
She would also ensure the money in the register matched the day’s takings.
Every week Dessman would add the takings and then reconcile the till with the orders before sending the money to airport management.
She was the only person in charge of reconciling the tills and no one checked her bookkeeping.
Her employers became aware of the fraud after a whistleblower contacted management.
An investigation by airport management revealed only Dessman could have siphoned off $86,773 it found missing.
Airport police reported the matter to the Australian Federal Police, who issued charges last January.
Leading Senior Constable Daniel Taite told the Broadmeadows Magistrate Court Dessman would steal thousands each week.
“She was the last person reconciling the register at the end of the week and the end of the day, and no one checked her tally,” Constable Taite said.
Dessman yesterday pleaded guilty to one count of obtaining property by deception from January 2011 to the end of December 2011.
The court heard Dessman, who is 13 weeks pregnant with her second child, stole the money to help feed her drug addiction.
Defence barrister Wendy James said he client had acknowledged she was likely to face a jail term but asked that it be wholly suspended.
“I need to acknowledge the three aggravating factors – that Ms Dessman abused a position of trust to her employers, it was a long period of time and a significant amount of money.
“I first thought that it may have been gambling that was behind this offending but her problem was an addiction to methamphetamine – ice.
“Through unbelievably tough love from her family she has been able to turn her life around.”
Ms James said her client had pleaded guilty at the earliest possible time saving 13 witnesses from giving evidence at a hearing.
Magistrate John Doherty adjourned sentencing until next week for court reports to be prepared – James Dowling & David Hurley

- Rolf Harris is staying silent in the face of fresh sex abuse allegations after he was arrested for a second time by a British police taskforce.
His neighbours, however, have been vocal in their support of the Australian entertainer.
Harris, 83, was first arrested in late March by officers from Operation Yewtree. He was bailed until May and then again until early August “pending further inquiries”.
Now police say new allegations against Harris have come to light.
“He has returned on bail today when he was further arrested on suspicion of sexual offences in connection with further allegations made to Operation Yewtree,” the Metropolitan Police said.
Harris has been bailed again and just return to a police station later this month.
A next-door neighbour, who didn’t want to be identified, said the local community was standing by the much-loved entertainer. “I don’t think you’ll find anybody who will say anything critical about him,” he said. “He’s lovely with the children.” – Herald Sun

- Police are hunting a predator who attacked two women and followed two others as they walked to work in the city.
Detectives have released CCTV footage of a man they wish to speak to.
One of the women, who wanted to be known as Catherine, said the man was “dangerous”.
She said she felt lucky, because she was sure “something could have gone very wrong, very quickly”.
The 34-year-old was walking to a gym before work, after 6:30am on July 26th, when she spotted a man “eyeballing” her.
“He had a look on his face that gave me a chill down my spine,” Catherine said.
“He then grabbed me as I walked past him.
“I side-stepped and walked a few steps forward, turned around and he was staring back at me with a look on his face,” she said.
“I thought, ‘You’re dangerous’ and I turned around and kept walking.
“I was very shaken. I certainly feel unsafe now in the city,” Catherine said.
Around the same time a 26-year-old was grabbed around her waist from behind by someone police believe was the same man.
He pushed her against a wall and indecently assaulted her before she managed to push him away.
Senior Constable John Baldwin said the man then turned and blew his victim a kiss before leaving.
CCTV cameras have also caught a man, believed to be the same one, following two other women who remain unaware of his presence.
Catherine said she felt “sick” on hearing of the other incidents. “It’s very disconcerting,” she said.
The man police wish to speak to is described as Caucasian, in his early 20s, of medium build, around 170 centimetres, with brown spiky hair. He was clean-shaven and wearing a long-sleeved blue shirt and blue jeans – Jon Kaila