Northern Territory
The Barrow
Creek Saga.. continues
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1 August
Adelaide:
"world murder capital"
Move over
Johannesburg, Moscow and Baltimore. Adelaide is the murder capital of the
world. Well, it is according to a documentary called 'The Trials of
Joanne Lees', which has been shown in the UK. South Australians are
furious, and the tourism industry is crying foul.
21 August |
Yahoo
News & AAP 21/8
Lees
lodges criminal compo claims
Outback ambush
survivor Joanne Lees is claiming up to $28,000 compensation from the Northern
Territory government as a victim of crime. The 28-year-old English girlfriend
of missing traveller Peter Falconio lodged two claims for compensation
in the Alice Springs Local Court last week under the NT victims of crime
assistance legislation. Ms Lees and her 28-year-old boyfriend were ambushed
300km north of Alice Springs on July 14 last year by a gunman who tricked
them into stopping their campervan near Barrow Creek. The gunman apparently
shot Mr Falconio before attempting to abduct Ms Lees. Ms Lees stood to
gain up to $3,000 for the grief, pain and suffering of losing her defacto
husband, NT Justice Department acting chief executive officer David Anderson
said. She could also gain another $25,000 in a general claim for compensation
for personal injury as a victim of crime, he said. The government was considering
whether it would agree to pay compensation or fight the applications in
court. A government decision to challenge aspects of the claims would raise
the prospect of Ms Lees being called to Alice Springs to testify. The fact
that Ms Lees received a reported $85,000 from her ordeal in an exclusive
British television deal would not influence the government's decision,
Mr Anderson said.
"That is irrelevant
to this," he said. "This is a statutory scheme to compensate victims of
crime."
Ms Lees initiated
the application on June 28 - little more than two weeks before the 12-month
deadline for such a claim expired. Her Alice Springs lawyer, Mark Heitmann,
said Ms Lees had been considering applying for compensation for some time.
But she had held out in the hope that the gunman would be found.
"As you would
when you're waiting for an offender to be identified," Mr Heitmann said.
He did not believe the absence of the perpetrator would harm her case.
Her claim for compensation would include the travel agent's loss of earnings,
he said. Mr Heitmann said it was possible the claim could be resolved by
a consent agreement with the government.
21 August
| Yahoo News
& AAP 21/8
Falconio's
dad worried by Lees claim
The father
of a British tourist missing after an ambush in the Australian outback
expressed reservations that his son's girlfriend was seeking compensation
for her part in the ordeal. Luciano Falconio, father of 28-year-old Peter
Falconio, said he had not been informed of the compensation being sought
by his son's girlfriend Joanne Lees. Lees, 28, could be in line for up
to $A50,000 in compensation under a government scheme for victims of crime.
According to court papers, Lees filed a compensation claim last week in
Alice Springs. Lees, from Almondbury in West Yorkshire, was tied up by
a gunman who is believed to have shot her boyfriend in July last year in
central Australia. Today, Luciano Falconio expressed initial concerns over
a possible compensation payout. He told PA News: "I don't know anything
about it. The first thing I knew was when you told me." Asked if Lees should
be considered for compensation he added: "I don't think she should, not
really. I've never really thought about it, I don't think so." Falconio
said he was in regular contact with Lees adding: "I speak every so often,
every week. I didn't know about the compensation. It never crossed my mind."
No-one from Lees' family was available for comment
