- A woman jailed in 2010  for sex offences 33 years ago against two boys aged eight has been freed after Victoria’s highest court quashed convictions and acquitted her.

Three Court of Appeal judges acted after a barrister for the woman, who was then a primary school teacher, submitted there was a real possibility an innocent person had been convicted.

The release of Josephine Greensill – who served almost 2 1/2 years after a jury found her guilty of offences allegedly committed in 1979 – came after allegations that her accusers colluded against her.

Ms Greensill, 61, has spoken about how she wept after her acquittal and was too scared to believe her horrendous experience was over.

Annette Toohey also relived the hell after the verdict, the tears and her sister’s anxiety that former students would think her a paedophile. Ms Greensill’s solicitor, Rob Stary, said the court’s decision reinforced his faith in the criminal justice system and the rule of law.

Her appeal barrister, Lachlan Carter, said there was a real stench about some aspects of the case.

Mr Carter told Justices Robert Redlich, Robert Osborn and Phillip Priest they ought to hold a doubt about Ms Greensill’s guilt and acquit her of nine counts of indecent assault. Ms Greensill, then 28 and a teacher of the boys – Jim and Dan – was charged after they, now aged 41 and 42, made police statements in 2007.

Judge Gabriele Cannon in the County Court jailed Ms Greensill for five years with a minimum of two years and eight months and said her premeditated offending had poisoned and eroded much of the complainants’ lives.

Mr Carter argued last month the convictions were unsafe for reasons that included a high risk of collusion between the men that had contaminated the evidence.

He said a detective, against accepted practice, facilitated contact between Jim and Dan after Dan told him he first wanted to speak to Jim – who had already made a statement – before making his statement.

Mr Carter noted that at the trial both men denied this under oath, despite the detective’s sworn evidence to the contrary, and also denied having spoken to each other since 1979.

Dan has said earlier the information he provided was what police were looking for and had suited their requirements , to which Mr Carter commented: “I mean, its got a real stench about (it), with respect.”

He also submitted other evidence that supported collusion, including both men identifying another teacher by the wrong name and using common language in their statements.

Mr Carter said Jim also had a motive to implicate Ms Greensill for money because he knew she had received a payout over her husband’s death. Jim denied this at the trial, saying he just wanted the truth to come out.

Mr Carter, however, in what he deemed new evidence, revealed that a week after Ms Greensill’s sentence a solicitor arranged an appointment that later led to a $65,000 compensation payout to Jim.

But Mr Carter said the heart of the case was whether boys of eight could have full and complete vaginal intercourse, which he submitted was previously unheard of in Australian sentencing law. When Justice Redlich said the bench could hardly go as far as to say (that) preposterous or utterly implausable”, Mr Carter replied it could say it strains credibility.

In response, Chief Crown prosecutor Gavin Silbert,  SC, conceded that no one could say we are not troubled by this case and that it raises alarm bells. But Mr Silbert said the court should not assume such intercourse was physically impossible.

When asked by Justice Redlich how the jury could not have had serious reservations whether there was some communication between the complainants, Mr Silbert said they were closely cross-examined about it and ultimately the jury believed them. The court is yet to publish its reasons – Steve Butcher

- Victoria’s building industry regulator is in turmoil, with several senior officials resigning amid an investigation into alleged corruption and misuse of public funds.

Three leading Victorian Building and Plumbing Commission officials have resigned in the past 10 days. Others are prepared to depart this week after the expected tabling in State Parliament of a report by the Ombudsman.

The Baillieu Government is also considering suspending the operations of Victoria’s building dispute resolution system amid concerns over a series of conflicts of interest involving members of the Building Practitioners Board and the Building Appeals Board.

The commission and both boards have been strongly criticised by home owners in recent years over their perceived lack of transparency and sluggish investigative and complaints handling processes.

The investigative and complaints process for the commission and the boards has largely been run  by several former Victoria Police detectives, some of whom left the force in controversial circumstances.

As well as the recent departures from the commission, at least four other senior officials, including long-standing chief Tony Arnel and his deputy, Peter Donald, left earlier this year after the Auditor-General found the commission’s supervision of the building permit system to be woeful. His report triggered wider concerns over governance failures.

Several serving and former senior commission officials have received excerpts of the Ombudsman’s report on the basis that it names and criticises them over their use of public funds and for inadequately overseeing Victoria’s builders, plumbers and surveyors.

Established in 1994 by the Kennett government, the commission is a statutory authority responsible for overseeing the building permit system and ensuring construction standards. It is funded by levies paid on permits by home owners.

Planning Minister Matthew Guy last week announced the abolition of the plumbing and building commission and the Architects Registration Board. They will be replaced next year by a single new body called the Victorian Building Authority.

Several commission employees, speaking on the condition of not being publicly identified, have in the past week raised concerns about senior officials using public funds for international travel on matters external to their responsibilities in regulating the building industry.

Much of this travel related to the World Green Building Council, which Mr Arnel chaired for many years. The commission’s chief financial officer, Paul Crapper, was also on the audit committee of the building council.

Other expenditure under scrutiny includes lavish meals with the heads of major building companies and regular corporate boxes at AFL football games.

Until recently, senior commission officials had American Express corporate credit cards with monthly limits of up to $25,000.

Mr Arnel, who resigned at the beginning of the year after 11 years as commissioner, is understood to have pursued a collaborative approach to regulating the building industry in line with policy directives from the Bracks and Brumby Labor governments.

Mr Arnel’s replacement, Michael Kefford, was appointed by Mr Guy in February and given a mandate to cut spending and adopt a more rigorous regulatory approach.

As well as the concerns over spending and governance, the commission this year has also grappled with a spate of bullying allegations and employees viewing pornography at work – Richard Baker & Nick McKenzie

- The signs that Christmas is upon us include the Myer window display, bad carol music in every department store and the news police are set to blitz Victoria’s holiday hot-spots.

But this year will be different: members of the 230-strong Operations Response Unit will be instructed to hit the sand looking for the type that turns a day on the beach into a nightmare.

While stopping short of arresting middle-aged men in inappropriately small swimming trunks, police say they are determined to enforce family-friendly standards and will crack down on anti-social behaviour including public drinking, loud music and offensive language.

The ORU head, Inspector Nigel Howard, said police would patrol beaches on quad bikes, all-terrain vehicles and on foot, during the six-week blitz.

Police would issue infringement notices for public nuisance offences, including enforcing the new ban on smoking at surf-patrolled beaches.

Under the ban, which came into force on December 1st, anyone who lights up between or near the beach flags is liable for a fine of $141.

From next weekend members of the ORU will head to popular holiday destinations such as Cowes, Torquay, Ocean Grove and Lakes Entrance to help local police deal with the surge in holiday makers.

Inspector Howard said the ORU would work with the Water Police Unit to target rogue jet-skiers. “They have been speeding back to the beach and mixing in with the crowds to avoid detection. Now we will be there when they hit dry land.”

During the blitz until the end of January, police will target public drunkenness, licensing breaches and traffic offences.

The ORU will also be deployed on fire watch during code red areas during days of extreme heat.

Inspector Howard said his group would continue to support Melbourne police covering busy CBD night-spots swollen with pre-Christmas revellers.

He said that at the weekend police were called to an office party hosted by one of Australia’s biggest companies.

“Four people were taken to hospital due to the effects of alcohol and we had to deal with an assault after an altercation between fellow staff members,” he said.

Police throughout Australia and New Zealand joined forces at the weekend in Operation Unite – the fourth annual trans-Tasman blitz on public misbehaviour in and around popular entertainment precincts.

In Victoria, 29 assaults were detected, 1000 preliminary breath tests conducted (13 positive), 166 people arrested, 105 people processed as drunks, and 20 banning and 659 penalty notices issued – John Silvester

- The besieged radio hosts behind the royal hoax scandal have made an emotional plea to reach out to nurse Jacintha Saldanha’s grieving family.

A sobbing Mel Greig apologised to the family last night for the hurt their silly little prank might have inflicted.

Greig and 2Day FM co-host Michael Christian finally broke their silence last night, in carefully scripted and coordinated TV interviews, over their hoax call to Kate Middleton’s bedside while she was battling acute morning sickness.

The duo said they never imagined that Ms Saldanha would take her own life just days after they duped her into believing they were the Queen and Prince Charles. Greig said it was the worst phone call of my life when told of the nurse’s death.

New South Wales Police are assisting Scotland Yard with a coronial inquest and the pair may be called to give evidence and come face to face with the nurse’s family.

Christian said the call was always meant to be a prank and was not about securing a scoop.

The hosts, who were visibly shaken and emotional in interviews on “A Current Affair” and “Today Tonight”, gave vague answers when asked about whose idea it was to make the prank call.

They said it was devised in a team meeting before the show started and then the interview went through processes where others decided if it should go to air.

Greig said she had not stopped thinking about the moment when told Ms Saldanha had died.

Christian said he had expected the hospital to disconnect them.

While the world continues to condemn the stunt and mourn Ms Saldanha, her mother, who suffers heart problems and was under sedation, is  not even aware her daughter is dead.

The “Daily Mirror” reported a copycat page was pretending to be the radio station’s website. Using the station’s logo, the copycat asked users to vote on whether they would commit suicide if they received a prank call.

Meanwhile, a YouTube user claiming to be part of the activist group Anonymous threatened the DJs.

Accompanied by vision of the Anonymous group’s signature Guy Fawkes mask, a computer-generated voice said: “You are directly responsible for the death of another human being, a woman who was dedicated to helping others, a mother who was loved, a respected member of the community who was turned into a joke by your radio station – Aleks Devic

- Bega schoolgirls killer Leslie Alfred Camilleri pleaded guilty yesterday to the murder of Prue Bird, 13, who vanished without trace more than 20 years ago.

Flanked by guards, Camilleri was stone-faced in the Supreme Court dock as he pleaded guilty to the 1992 murder of the Glenroy schoolgirl.

Prue’s mother, Jenny Bird, shook and wept as Camilleri was led past her.

Camilleri is serving a life sentence for raping and murdering two Bega Schoolgirls in 1997 – crimes he committed with an accomplice.

It had long been suspected that Prue was killed to punish her grandmother’s partner, who had made statements to police against the men responsible for the 1986 bombing of the Russell Street police station.

But yesterday, prosecutor Michele Williams, SC, said the Crown no longer alleged that Prue’s murder had been payback connected to the bombing.

Prue was last seen alive in the kitchen of her mother’s house in Justin Avenue, Glenroy, on February 2nd, 1992. Police believe she was killed some time between that day and February 9th.

In February this year, police conducted a three-day search for her remains near Flat Rock Creek, north of Cann River in far East Gippsland. The search was called off after nothing was found.

The site is near where the bodies of schoolgirls Lauren Barry and Nichole Collins were found in 1997.

Camilleri and his accomplice, Lindsay Beckett, kidnapped the girls, repeatedly raped them, and drove them across the NSW border into Victoria, where they killed them.

Camilleri is one of the few Victorian prisoners serving a life term without parole.

In February this year, the Homicide Squad’s Detective Sergeant Brent Fisher told Melbourne Magistrates Court the motive for Prue’s murder revolved around payback over the Russell Street bombing, about which Prue’s grandmother, Julie, and her partner, Paul Kurt Hetzel, gave statements to police.

Whether Camilleri acted alone in Prue’s murder remains in dispute. A contested plea hearing is scheduled for February 4th.

Camilleri would dispute the prosecution case that he acted with another person in the killing, defense counsel Jacqui Kennedy told the court yesterday.

Camilleri rose but did not bow before Justice Elizabeth Curtain at the arraignment.

Asked to verify his name, he responded simply and unemotionally.

As Camilleri, 43, pleaded guilty to murdering Prue, Mrs Bird, sitting several metres from the killer and staring at him, began to cry.

She continued to weep as Camilleri was led out without sparing her a glance – Emily Portelli & Mark Dunn

- Depraved triple killer Leslie Alfred Camilleri might just be the devil incarnate.

A notorious monster condemned to die in jail, Camilleri was a street-level Svengali who broke the monotony of his aimless existence by jamming amphetamines up hi arm.

He and friend Lindsay Hoani Beckett preyed on young women, indulging in Camilleri’s sick game of rape, torture and murder.

Where Camilleri led, Beckett would follow. And what Camilleri thrived on was prolonging the pain and torment of his victims.

The murder of 13-year-old Prue Bird in 1992 appears to have stirred Camilleri’s want for perverse powers over girls. It culminated in a crime that still rates as one of the nation’s most horrific.

He and Beckett subjected Bega schoolgirls Lauren Barry, 14, and Nichole Collins, 16, to 12 hours of rape and terror that ended in the most brutal of deaths in 1997.

Born in Liverpool, NSW, in May 1969, Camilleri was a nobody who blew from footpath to gutter lie a cigarette butt in the wind.

One of six children, Camilleri did not know his father until age 13. He had no home life due to his mother’s personal problems, and no formal education.

Between the ages of 10 and 12 Camilleri lived on the streets around Kings Cross.

Years later, Camilleri ended up living in Yass.

Between August 1988 and October 1997, Camilleri racked up 164 convictions, mainly for breaking and entering and theft.

Prue Bird was a fiesty little bugger with a heart of gold, according to mum Jenny.

She was abducted from her home in Justine Avenue, Glenroy, on February 2nd, 1992.

Earlier this year, Detective Sergeant Brent Fisher, of the Homicide Squad, alleged in Melbourne’s Magistrates Court that the motive was payback over police statements made against the men who bombed the Russell Street police building in 1986. Prue’s grandmother, Julie, and her partner, Paul Kurt Hetzel, gave statements  to police about the fatal bombing, the court was told.

How Camilleri became involved – and what he did to Prue – is not likely to be revealed until his plea hearing in February.

Camilleri’s admission to killing 13-year-old Prue may have answered the question of who committed a crime that baffled police for years.

But Prue’s remains have never been found.

Police believe she lies somewhere near where Lauren and Nichole were brutally killed at Fiddler’s Green Creek, just within the Victorian border with NSW.

The airing of just a few seconds of a press conference in early 1997 was the unwitting catalyst for the chain of events that cost Lauren and Nichole their lives and saw another victim lucky to escape with hers.

A NSW District Court judge decided that generic comments made by the police minister about the prevalence of child sex offences could be prejudicial to Camilleri’s trial for abusing a 12-year-old girl.

Despite no reference made to Camilleri’s case, the judge discharged the jury and set Camilleri free on bail.

Four days later Camilleri and Beckett abducted a 19-year-old woman in Canberra. The victim was repeatedly raped, tied up and threatened with a knife in a 12-hour ordeal.

Dressed in only socks and a T-shirt, the woman managed to escape her captors at a toilet block off the Hume Highway near Bowral, NSW.

The pair determined not to make the same mistake with their next victims.

It was on October 5th, 1997, a long weekend just weeks after the Canberra rape victim’s escape.

Nichole Collin’s father had set up a camp for his daughter and friends at White Rock off the Tathra-Bega Road, not far from the family home.

Camilleri, then 28, and Beckett, 23, had been injecting each other with speed and drinking that evening; Camilleri angry after a fight with his de facto wife.

Lauren and Nichole were walking to a party when Camilleri and Beckett pulled up. Beckett got out and talked them into the vehicle.

By the time they got in it was too late – its back doors were permanently locked.

After a drive to Tathra beach, the men told the girls there was a concert rocking in nearby Bega and they decided to head there.

But they never arrived.

What followed was a hellish 12-hour trip for the innocent girls as they were driven from one secluded location to another and repeatedly raped.

The men injected each other with more speed during the depraved drive across hundreds of kilometres around NSW and north-eastern Victoria.

Towards the end Beckett was driving towards Orbost.

Camilleri wanted to head to Sydney where the girls could be thrown off a bridge because they can’t go back.

According to Beckett, one of the girls asked if they were both going to be killed.

Camilleri replied that they were going to be tied up so he and Beckett could escape.

Beckett turned off at Fiddler’s Green Creek and drove deep into scrubland.

He tied Nichole’s hands with rope. Camilleri did the same to Lauren.

The girls were ordered to wash themselves in the creek.

Camilleri then ordered them onto their stomachs, gagged with strips cut from Lauren’s jeans.

Beckett then killed both girls on orders from Camilleri.

It is clear former Supreme Court Justice Frank Vincent viewed Camilleri as a cowardly overlord.

Despite the sex-crazed killers trying to destroy the evidence in ensuing weeks, good detective work led Bega Taskforce investigators to them.

On November 12th, 1997, Beckett made full admissions and led police to the bodies. Camilleri claimed he was doped out on heroin and knew nothing of the atrocities.

But his DNA found on Lauren’s dumped shirt helped disprove his story.

Beckett pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and was sentenced to life in jail.

Justice Vincent handed him a 35-year minimum term, only because he agreed to give evidence against Camilleri.

Beckett spent five days in the witness box at Camilleri’s trial. A jury found Camilleri guilty.

In sentencing Camilleri in April 1999 to two life sentences with no chance of parole, Justice Vincent told him he was a man with no remorse.

True to his nature, Camilleri appealed his conviction and sentence. In March 2001, that appeal was dismissed -Paul Anderson

- The infamous Bega schoolgirls killer, Leslie Alfred Camilleri, has pleaded guilty to the 20-year-old murder of teenager Prue Bird.

In a brief hearing before Justice Elizabeth Curtain at Victoria’s Supreme Court on Monday, Camilleri, 43, pleaded guilty to murdering Prue, 13, between February 2nd and 11th, 1992, after she disappeared from her Glenroy home.

Prue’s mother, Jenny, was in court for the brief hearing.

Prue has not been seen or heard from since February 2nd, 1992.

Her mother left that morning, leaving Prue with a family friend at the house.

Prue was preparing lunch in the kitchen when she was last seen. When the friend returned to the house after packing boxes in the garage, the front door was open, the television was on and a hot meal was sitting uneaten on the table.

Police have claimed in court that there were another four people of interest apart from Camilleri in their investigation of her murder.

Three of the four people of interest were in custody, but the fourth remained at large, most likely interstate.

Homicide detectives were granted permission in February to interview Russell Street bomber Craig Minogue over Prue’s murder.

Detective Sergeant Brent Fisher, of the Homicide Squad, told an earlier court hearing  that the motive for Prue’s abduction and murder revolved around payback over police statements made against the men who bombed the Russell Street police building in 1986.

Prue’s grandmother, Julie, and her partner, Paul Kurt Hetzel, gave statements to police about the fatal bombing.

But prosecutor Michele Williams, SC, told the court the Crown no longer wished to argue the motive for the murder was payback for the bombing.

Camilleri, dressed in a green jumper and grey tracksuit pants, stood with his hands behind his back. He was softly spoken when he told the court he was guilty.

His pre-sentence plea hearing has been adjourned to February 4th, 2013.

Prue’s body has never been found. Police conducted a three-day search for her remains near Flat Rock Creek, north of the town of Cann River in far East Gippsland, in February. But the search was called off after officers found nothing.

The site is near where the bodies of schoolgirls Lauren Barry and Nichole Collins were found in 1997.

The girls were kidnapped by Camilleri and an accomplice in Bega, New South Wales, and driven across the border to the isolated region where they were repeatedly raped and killed.

Camilleri is serving life without parole for those murders – Andrea Petrie

- The radio pair who hoaxed nurse Jacintha Saldanha were also victims and the nurses’s family would not want death threats directed at them, the family’s priest said yesterday.

Father Tom Finnegan, priest at St Vincent and St Theresa’s Catholic Church in Southmead in the Bristol district, said the death of Mrs Saldanha, 46, had devastated her family and many in her congregation.

But the priest, who spent the weekend with the family, said the DJ duo looked broken in their broadcast apology and were victims themselves in the tragedy to some extent.

But the British media were not as forgiving as Fr Finnegan, with some responding with cynicism to the apology made by 2DayFM DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian.

“Grovelling” was how the big-selling “Daily Mail” and “The Sun” websites judged the interview of the pair.

BBC TV highlighted how ethics of the pranks didn’t seem to bother them, while commentator Richard Littlejohn said turning thir public apology  into a self-indulgent, self-justifying sobfest was, however, utterly nauseating.

Ms Saldanha’s ailing mother Carmine was inconsolable and under heavy sedation since family members informed her of her daughter’s tragic death yesterday.

Previously, family members said they had not told their mother of Ms Saldanha’s death because the elderly widow had heart problems.

Scotland Yard said a post-mortem examination would be held at Westminster Coroner’s Court this week.

Police in London have contacted their Australian counterparts with a view to interviewing the two DJs, ahead of an inquest into Ms Saldanha’s death.

Fr Finnegan said it was distressing to learn the DJs had received death threats, and the Saldanha family would not wish that on anyone – Charles Miranda

- A Melbourne man accused of collecting terrorism propaganda and possessing instructions on how to make bombs and weapons of mass destruction has been granted bail on a $500,000 surety.

In a Supreme Court application hearing yesterday, it was deemed that Adnan Karabegovic, 24, would not be an unacceptable risk if released on bail.

Defence barrister Michael O’Connell had submitted that the case was not a strong one and delay before  any eventual trial should be taken into account.

Mr O’Connell said his client was an acceptable risk because he had no convictions, had strong family support, likely employment, and the offer of a $500,000 surety.

The defence application’s strongest plank was based on Mr Karabegovic’s wife, who is due to give birth.

Commonwealth prosecutor Jeremy Rapke, QC, told Justice David Beach: “The personal circumstances of the applicant and his family evoke natural human emotions…if Your Honour is of the view that they elevate his situation to that of exceptional circumstances, we would not want to be seen to argue against that.”

Justice Beach said he was satisfied exceptional circumstances existed.

Bail was granted on strict conditions including two-day reporting to police, no contact with witnesses, the surrendering of Mr Karabegovic’s passport and no contact with his local Islamic centre.

Mr Karabegovic was allegedly arrested with a USB memory stick containing articles from an alleged al-Qaida magazine, which included an article entitled “Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mum”.

A previously tendered Australian Federal Police affidavit states: “(Another article) provides guidance on how to…gather information and how to encourage people with a science background to develop a weapon of mass destruction.”

Mr Karabegovic is facing four counts of collecting documents being connected with the preparation for the engagement of a person in or assistance in a terrorist act.

He is due to appear back in the Melbourne Magistrates Court in April – Paul Anderson

- Fraud involving Australian credit cards, debit cards and cheques reached $285 million in the 12 months to June, down from a peak of $302 million in the 12 months to last December.

The latest figures include an estimated $30 million taken over two years by a Romanian crime ring that was only recently exposed. That syndicate had access to 500,000 Australian credit cards and about 30,000 credit cards were exploited, the Australian Federal Police said.

Credit cards accounted for $263 million, or 97%, of all fraud in the 2011-12 financial year. Debit cards accounted for 3% and cheques just 0.05%. Altogether $1.8 trillion was spent through cards and cheques during the year, according to the Australian Payments Clearing Association.

Online shopping and transactions done over the telephone or by mail with credit cards are the most susceptible to fraud.

APCA chief executive Chris Hamilton said the average amount stolen during a fraudulent credit card transaction has dropped from $365 to $225 because criminals are testing their methods and trying to hide fraud among normal transactions.

About $14 million was stolen using debit cards that require a personal identification number.

Banks and credit unions usually reimburse cardholders, providing the customer is not at fault.

Cheque fraud declined to $7.9 million in 2011-12 from a peak of $18 million in 2010 as fewer people use cheques. However, the average value of cheque fraud is very high, at $11,000. “The guys who used to be experts at cheque fraud are finding it harder to do that, they are gradually going out of business. The last few people who are trying to engage in cheque fraud are going after larger values, Mr Hamilton said – Lucy Battersby

- “Hey Dad!” star Robert Hughes is expected to arrive back to Australia in a matter of days to face child sex assault charges.

The British Government signed an order on November 20th for Hughes’ extradition, giving him 14 days to appeal.

The 64-year-old  consented to the order, leaving him four weeks from the date of order to leave Britain.

That process has left Hughes less than a week before he must depart London for Sydney under escort by NSW Police.

He was charged in London via an arrest warrant from the Sex Crime Squad in August.

The warrant relates to 11 offences, including indecent and sexual assault, against five girls between 1984 and 1990, when the actor played the central character Martin Kelly in the hit TV series – The Age

- A protective services officer brutally attacked with a hammer on the steps of Parliament House loved his work guarding the state’s leaders.

The wife of James Vongvixay last night told the Herald Sun she was proud of her husband, who remains in hospital with a fractured skull suffered in the line of duty. Karen said: “I’m really proud of him. I’m really lucky to have him.”

Homicide detectives are trying to piece together the sequence of events leading to Tuesday night’s brutal attack.

Mr Vongvixay was asked for directions, but moments later he was bashed with a hammer, inflicting terrible injuries.

The attacker, David Hollingsworth, 30, of Chadstone, grabbed his unconscious victim’s gun and ran towards the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

In a tragic sequel, minutes later in Jolimont Mr Hollingsworth shot himself fatally with the semi-automatic pistol.

The outpouring of sympathy from Victorians to her husband clearly moved Mrs Vongvixay.

The couple, who met in Laos, have been married for 31 years.

Mr Vongvixay, who remains in Royal Melbourne Hospital, had worked in factories before becoming a PSO seven years ago.

Mrs Vongvixay said their two children, aged 29 and 19, had a great father.

The Herald Sun has been told Mr Hollingsworth’s mother called Lifeline in the days before the incident in a desperate effort to get him help.

It has been confirmed the 30-year-old was known to police and had mental health issues.

A family friend told the Herald Sun there were efforts to get him help, including a call to Lifeline, but preventative action was not taken.

Mr Hollingsworth, believed to be of Mauritian background, had been suffering depression for several years.

This was exacerbated by a family member’s poor health, being kicked out of his rental property, long-term unemployment as an electrician and a relationship breakdown.

Lifeline spokesman John Mendel said the service did not proactively call people who were in crisis.

Mr Mendel said if a family member called about an imminent risk of someone self harming, advice would be given to contact 000.

The service also contacts 000 in some cases.

But he said he would not be able to ascertain whether a call was made to Lifeline – Mark Buttler & Anthony Dowsley

- Just six hours before a man attacked a Protective Services Officer with a hammer, stealing his gun and shooting himself dead, a woman reported seeing  the man acting in a bizarre and peculiar manner around Parliament House.

The key witness saw the tall, shaven-headed man acting oddly at 2:30 pm on Tuesday and was so concerned about his behaviour she alerted a PSO on duty.

The officer spoke to the man – wearing a grey singlet, dark three-quarter length pants, runners and carrying a blue backpack – and he left the scene soon after.

Detectives say the man – a 30-year-old from Chadstone – returned six hours later, violently attacking another PSO and taking his gun before fleeing and turning it on himself.

As police scoured the scene for clues yesterday morning, Detective Inspector John Potter appealed for the woman to come forward.

Within hours the witness came forward, but it was unclear last night if she had shed any further light on why the tragedy unfolded.

Police are still trying to piece together the man’s movements before 2:30 pm on Tuesday and the hours leading up to the brutal attack on the PSO, now identified as James Vongvixay.

The man approached Mr Vongvixay close to the front steps of Parliament about 8:30 pm asking for directions.

Mr Vongvixay was then struck over the head with a hammer, knocking him over.

The man took the PSO’s gun – a semi-automatic .40 calibre Smith & Wesson – and fled through Fitzroy Gardens as Parliament sat inside.

Another PSO is believed to have run to his colleague’s aid while a third PSO was in the control room.

Five minutes later, police received a 000 call, alerting them to the sound of a single gunshot.

Officers soon discovered the dead man in Jolimont Reserve, near the intersection of Charles Street and Wellington Parade South, 400 metres from the MCG.

Resident Scott Osboldstone said he heard a pop about 8:40 pm before the screeching of police cars minutes later.

Paramedics took Mr Vongvixay, 50, to the Royal Melbourne Hospital suffering from a depressed fracture of the skull.

Premier Ted Baillieu held a press conference later, saying he was distressed, concerned and grateful it didn’t have wider consequences.

Mr Vongvixay, a father of two, underwent surgery overnight and yesterday was stable and able to speak with detectives and family – Jon Kaila

- Parents have again been warned of the dangers of leaving children in cars in the heat after Tuesday’s tragic death of an infant in Bendigo.

Police were continuing to investigate how the child, believed to be a girl, was left in the locked car as temperatures soared above 30C.

A frantic phone call from a passerby alerted authorities, but it was already too late.

The child was taken to hospital but died.

It was still unclear how long the the baby had been left in the vehicle.

Homicide detectives were called to the scene in Thistle Street as a matter of course.

However, charges were not expected to be laid.

A woman, 27, was questioned overnight.

She returned to the house yesterday, where she was being comforted by friends and family.

Neighbours yesterday were trying to understand how the tragedy occurred.

The tragedy occurred just a day after Ambulance Victoria had again warned of the dangers of leaving children in hot cars.

AMA Victoria president Dr Stephen Parnis said the death was a deeply distressing incident, but not an uncommon one – Aaron Langmaid

- The Australian Communications and Media Authority is expected to launch an investigation into the 2Day FM prank call to London’s King Edward VII Hospital.

The independent media watchdog’s probe will likely have powers to compel parent company Southern Cross Austereo to name those who approved putting the infamous hoax to air.

The inquiry will examine whether the network breached its licensing conditions and the code of practice in airing the call, since linked to the suspected suicide of British nurse Jacintha Saldanha.

The Indian-born mother of two took her life only days after connecting a phone call from Sydney DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian to a ward nurse who was caring for the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge.

Yesterday, it was revealed Ms Saldanha had left a note for her family, explaining the reasons for her apparent suicide.

Her husband, Ben Barboza, yesterday formally identified her body as part of the post-mortem process.

Her body is expected to be flown to India this week for burial.

Austereo has apologised for the regrettable death of Ms Saldanha, committing at least $500,000 to a memorial fund.

But hospital staff denied Austereo claims it tried to contact the nurses five times for consent to air the prank prior to its broadcast on December 5th.

Austereo yesterday said in-house training was given to all staff, with presenters schooled in radio codes and procedures.

The claim contradicted Christian and Greig, who said on TV they were not aware of the approval process for prank calls.

NSW Police confirmed they were assisting Scotland Yard, which has launched a separate investigation – Holly Byrnes & Patrick Lion

- Protective Services Officers have been guarding Parliament for the past 25 years. Before that, the job fell to police officers.

I worked Parliament House security duties in my early police career. I can tell you it is a mind-numbing, boring job that often involved no highlight other than sorting out people’s parking problems.

But that doesn’t mean that the the job is without risk.

And this week’s terrible attack on a PSO outside Parliament House could quite easily have happened to a police officer – a point I make because uniformed critics will no doubt come out and say PSO officers are not properly trained, or that they should not be armed.

But the reality is that PSOs receive the same firearms training as police. A component of that covers firearm retention. That the officer was attacked with a hammer negates any training that he would have had in the past six months.

The more pressing issue appears to be the mental state of the attacker, and how mental illness is generally handled by law enforcement.

Some years ago there was a spike in police shootings, when changes to the mental health system resulted in people moving from care back into the community. My experience was that the fatal shootings were often tied to people not taking medication and not getting the support they needed when on their own.

I’m not suggesting that was the situation for the man in the incident at Parliament. No doubt a clearer picture of what was happening in his life will emerge over the next few days.

But for a long time after those police shootings, efforts were made to train officers about interacting with those living with mental illness. We were trained to attempt to recognise different types of mental illness and how to handle them.

But it didn’t work, because every situation is different and requires far more expertise than most police have. And, while police might be aware they are dealing with mental illness, if confronted with a life-threatening situation, there is not much they can really do differently.

When engaging with people experiencing difficulties, the CAT (crisis assessment teams) was usually called, but often would not be prepared to come until the situation was controlled by police, if at all.

What is needed are more CAT teams that can respond quickly and assess the best approach for each case.

If we can identify a person, being able to contact their health professionals or family for background would be helpful, because the police would know what they were dealing with.

It could avoid a situation turning violent. Police are often identified as the enemy, a voice of authority. A trigger, even.

Many of these situations can be defused by the introduction of someone the person knows or who is properly trained to assist them. A friendly face rather than an authoritarian figure could be the difference between behaviour escalating, or calming down.

The police really need support from the people who know best. But the mental health system has long been lacking, especially where public safety is concerned.

But the Parliament incident also raises another question for me. Why was the PSO on his own?

In the past, the Police Association has been critical of members working one-up.

Regardless of whether there were two other PSO officers at different locations at Parliament House at the time, there should have been one other with the officer who was attacked. That is not a comment made with the benefit of hindsight, but a basic observation on occupational health and safety.

PSOs and police continue to work one-up. It’s not unusual, particularly at traffic management units.

In the past, when similar attacks have occurred on members who are one-up, the matter has been addressed for a short time, but then budget cuts and staffing problems have often resulted in members going back to working in potentially dangerous situations.

The question that needs to be asked is this: Is Victoria Police providing a safe working environment for its members?

And I believe the other question to be answered is this: Why are PSOs, rather than private security, working as security guards for politicians  and our court system?

Private security officers currently work in our courts screening people entering, and can be trained and licensed to carry firearms.

If private security personnel are required to have additional powers to enable them to work security at Parliament House, it would simply be a matter of changing the legislation.

That PSOs have done the job all these years doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be considering who is responsible for these facilities.

The protection of Parliament and courts could easily be addressed, and the community at large could reap the benefits of having extra PSOs to protect them.

The high accountability of PSOs and police personnel is always evident in incidents such as this; hence, the investigation is being conducted by the Homicide Squad and Internal Investigations Department.

Often people wonder if there is anything sinister at play because of the involvement of the Homicide Squad. But Homicide Squad investigators are the specialists in investigating any suspicious deaths, and circumstances are not taken for granted. While what appears to have happened has been reported in the media, the circumstances must be supported by evidence.

Doing that will give the community and the justice system continued confidence in Victoria Police – Charlie Bezzina

- FBI agents arrested two US citizens – one at the airport in Atlanta, the other at a bus terminal in Augusta, Georgia – who they said were about to leave for North Africa to prepare to wage violent jihad.

Mohammad Abdul Rahman Abukhdair and Randy Wilson, also known as Rasheed Wilson, both 25 and residents of Mobile, Alabama, were charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists in order to kill persons or damage property outside the United States.

A criminal complaint filed in the US District Court in Mobile alleges the men met online two years ago, and later confided to an undercover FBI source their alleged plans to travel overseas with fake passports and join a terror network in Morocco or Mauritania. “Jihad means people are going to die,” Mr Abukhdair allegedly told Mr Wilson and the undercover source. “It’s a war…This is what jihad is. This is what war is.”

Mr Wilson later allegedly told the undercover source: “One way or the other, everyone’s gonna have to fight. This is just, this is the way of the world, man…..Jihad is the pinnacle of Islam. There’s no deed better than jihad.”

Mr Abukhdair and Mr Wilson have not yet entered pleas.

The arrest come as a Chicago man was sentence on Tuesday to nearly 10 years in prison for planning to travel to Somalia in 2010 to wage jihad for a terrorist group connected to al-Qaida. Shaker Masri, 29, a native US citizen of Syrian descent, pleaded guilty in July to attempting to provide material support to the Somali group al-Shabab, which is designated by the US government as a terrorist organisation.

US District judge Sharon Johnson Coleman considered Masri’s younger age, mental health and stress from his mother’s sudden death in accepting the sentence worked out between prosecutors and his lawyers – nine years and 10 months in prison. But she also ordered that he be under supervised release for 20 years after his release from prison.

Masri’s lead attorney, Thomas Anthony Durkin, had opposed the unusually lengthy supervised release, noting his client would be an old man by the time he was no longer under court supervision.

At one point during the sentencing on Tuesday, Masri raised a hand and asked to speak after prosecutors had just described his jihadist ideology. After conferring with his attorneys, though, Masri chose to remain silent. Later, when formally given the opportunity to address the judge, he responded: “No, thank you.”

Even with 20 years of supervised release, Mr Dirkin said the sentence was a reasonable resolution under difficult circumstances – Richard Serrano & Ellen Jean Hirst

- “Hey Dad!” star Robert Hughes has been charged with 11 child sex offences dating back to the 1980s.

Hughes appeared in court when his matter was briefly heard on Thursday afternoon. He did not enter a plea.

Police did not oppose bail and it was granted by the court on strict conditions, including $50,000 surety.

He must also report to police three times a week, forfeit his passport and not go near an international departure point.

The 64-year-old landed at Sydney Airport just before 7:30 am on Thursday, flanked by New South Wales Police officers who had escorted him on a Qantas flight from Heathrow.

He was then taken to the Sydney Police Centre.

The former prime-time TV star consented to an order sought by Attorney-General Nicola Roxon that he return to Sydney for questioning in relation to allegations he assaulted five children between 1985 and 1990 while starring on the popular family sitcom.

Hughes faces 11 accusations made by people who were aged seven to 15 at the time of the alleged abuse.

Earlier, Hughes’ lawyer, Greg Walsh, said his client was holding up well as could be expected and hoped to get bail and return home to his wife, celebrity agent Robyn Gardiner.

Mr Walsh said his client denied all charges and would be pleading not guilty.

Sex Crimes Commander Detective Superintendent John Kerlatec said Hughes declined to be interviewed by detectives at Surrey Hills Police Station on Thursday morning.

All the alleged victims had been contacted, Detective Superintendent Kerlatec said.

He said police did not expect to lay any further charges in relation to these alleged victims.

Claims against Hughes were first made public in 2010.

He was living in London with his wife when arrested in August by police seeking his extradition.

He has been on bail since his arrest.

He played the central character Martin Kelly in the hit TV series – Megan Levy & Nick Ralston

- The nurse who died after receiving a prank call from 2Day FM hanged herself in her room in the nurses’ residence and left three notes for family explaining why, a coroner’s court has heard.

Westminster Coroner Court yesterday opened the inquiry into the death of Jacintha Saldanha, a nurse at London’s King Edward VII Hospital.

In a brief hearing, the court heard Ms Saldanha, 46, was found last Friday by a nurse colleague and a security guard who helped gain entrance to her Marylebone unit.

Detective Chief Inspector James Harman told the court there were no suspicious circumstances.

He said the had also found emails of relevance and were looking at text messages sent before her death but they were still piecing together the sequence of events that led to her death.

The inquest proceedings were adjourned until March to allow officers to interview staff from the 2Day FM radio network regarding the prank call made to the hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was recovering from morning sickness.

No formal cause of death has yet been ruled with toxicology reports to be finalised.

Family did not attend the hearing but some of Ms Saldanha’s colleagues did – Charles Miranda

- While on bail  and a court curfew, a major drug trafficker used his light plane and a Ferrari to shuttle between Melbourne and a clandestine lab in regional Victoria to oversee production for his ice and amphetamine network, a court heard yesterday.

Mohammed Charif Oueida, aka Sherif Lobau, whose $2.8 million fortress-like Greenvale home came complete with a golf course, was shot on the day he was due before court last year as part of a battle involving Middle Eastern crime families in Melbourne’s west over the control of drug money, the County Court heard.

Lebanese-born Oueida, 36, was described in court as having an Alan Bond-type character – he lived a lavish life, drove a Hummer or Ferrari 360 Spyder and flew his Beechcraft Bonanza light aircraft. But at other times, Oueida was a kidnap victim, he was shot at by a rival using a gold-plated Beretta pistol, or he talked up timber deals in the Soloman Islands or building projects in Pakistan.

Oueida’s empire came undone thanks in large measure to the bravery of an undercover operative, code-named UCO232, from Taskforce Rossa, a joint operation between the Australian Federal Police, Victoria Police and the Australian Crime Commission, the court heard.

On one occasion, as Oueida was on a lunch adjournment from a court hearing last year for a separate shoot-out at Coolaroo, he took an $80,000 cash payment from UCO232 for a drugs shipment.

He gave one of his associate’s a Lexus car and another a Range Rover as he organised thousands of packets of Chinese pseudo pills – cold and flu tablets processed for their psuedoephedrine – and sold a wholesale value of $740,000 in illicit drugs in 2010, the court heard.

Prosecutor Richard Pirrie, in calling for a sentence of up to 11 years, said Oueida was a willing player who had used his sophisticated network to build a fortune.

Judge Liz Gaynor will sentence Oueida, who has pleaded guilty, next Thursday – Mark Dunn