Perth man jailed for road rage

A 19-year-old Perth man has been sentenced to 15 months jail for a road rage attack in which he drove into four cyclists.

Adam Mark Stratfold reversed into the group, after one of them tapped on the window of his car on Marmion Avenue in February this year.

One cyclist was thrown over the bonnet of the car and suffered a broken finger and ankle.

District Court judge Mary Ann Yeats said Stratfold showed a persistent rage and careless attitude to the life, health and safety of the cyclists.

Stratfold will have to serve seven-and-a-half months before he can be released on parole.

Top lawyer sues WA govt over suspect tag

Prominent Perth barrister Lloyd Rayney is suing the West Australian government after police named him as the prime suspect in his wife's murder, resulting in his mail being scrawled with the word "killer" his lawyer says.

Mr Rayney's estranged wife Corryn Rayney disappeared on August 7, 2007 after a bootscooting class. Her body was found in a bush grave in Perth's Kings Park nine days later.

Mr Rayney on Tuesday filed a writ in the West Australian Supreme Court suing the government for comments made by Detective Senior Sergeant Jack Lee, who was heading the murder investigation, on September 20 last year.

Lawyer Martin Bennett said his client was suing for defamation over Det Snr Sgt Lee's statements outside Mr Rayney's home and at a media conference that day.

"The statements weren't simply that Mr Rayney was the prime and only suspect," Mr Bennett told reporters.

"Detective Lee went further. He said they had sufficient evidence, it was a matter of just seeing how it all fits."

Det Snr Sgt Lee had also said the murder occurred at the Rayney home, Mr Bennett said.

The writ claims the police officer's statements were "grossly and falsely" defamatory.

"The statement ... unarguably conveys the imputation (that) Mr Rayney murdered his wife," Mr Bennett said.

"That's how every member of the community has seen it. That's why strangers take his mail out of the letterbox and write the word 'killer' on it and put it back in his letter box.

"That's why his children are teased, how he has been taunted and treated as he goes in the street and his everyday business."

Mr Rayney is suing the government, which is responsible for civil wrongs committed by police, for general damages, capped at $250,000 in WA, and for special damages for the loss of income as a barrister.

There is no set limit to special damages, and Mr Bennett said it was a "fair inference" the figure could run into the millions of dollars.

"We're talking about the potential destruction of an earning capacity for life," he said.

Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan has previously said Det Snr Sgt Lee named Mr Rayney under media pressure.

Mr Bennett said if that was the case, the police officer could have apologised immediately and indicated he did not mean to say it.

Mr Rayney has offered not to continue to prosecute the writ if the government is prepared to make an offer of compensation.

However, if the government decides to defend the case, it may have to prove the truth of the allegations that Mr Rayney was the "prime suspect" in his wife's death.

The burden of proof in such a civil matter

would be less than in a criminal court.

The government would not have to prove "beyond reasonable doubt" Mr Rayney had killed his wife, but that it was "more likely than not".

Mr Rayney has pleaded not guilty in the Perth Magistrates Court to a commonwealth charge of tapping his wife's phone.

Aust: Perth woman acquitted of murdering former partner

A 28 year-old woman subjected to years of domestic violence has been acquitted of murdering her former partner.

Magdalena Dziuba, 28, spent 18 months in custody awaiting trial for wilfully murdering 38 year-old Rhett Greenhill.

He was fatally stabbed during a struggle at their home in the southern Perth suburb of Coogee in November 2005.

A Supreme court jury acquitted Ms Dziuba after accepting she was acting in self defence.

She said she feared for her life and believed she was only moments away from death when the stabbing happened.

Outside the court she said she was too scared to seek a restraining order against Mr Greenhill.

"I knew that wouldn't stop him. He would just come back and get more angry, so I was too afraid," she said.

Ms Dziuba says she hopes her life can now return to normal.

Ms Dziuba's lawyer, Jeremy Scudds says the verdict brings his client's nightmare to an end.

"It's a terrible case where it shows the plight of women who are subjected to domestic violence and it's just regrettable she found herself in a position where she had to defend herself," he said.

Lawyers struggle to explain teenage murder motives

Lawyers for two teenagers have told the Perth Children's Court experts have been unable to determine why the girls turned into murderers.

The two girls were 16 in June last year when they put a cloth soaked in chemicals over the face of 15-year-old Eliza Davis and strangled her with a piece of wire.

Her body was found in a shallow grave underneath a house in Collie, in south-west Western Australia, in June last year.

The court has been told the pair have shown a complete lack of remorse and emotion over what has been described as a sadistic, callous and cold-blooded murder.

The girls have provided no explanation for the murder, other than telling police it felt right, even though they knew it was wrong.

Today their lawyers submitted that both girls had troubled upbringings.

One had not dealt with the tragic death of her mother while the second fell into the so-called 'goth' culture and had a preoccupation with death.

Outside the court, one of the police officers who worked on the case, Detective Senior Sergeant Steve Post, said the case highlighted a disturbing trend in society.

"We've seen in recent times where young girls are taking the lives of others - I just wonder what we're exposing our children to in this society when things like that happen," he said.

Eliza Davis's father, Steve, said the girls had shown no remorse.

"I can't see any option for the judge except to give them a good long sentence," he said.

Prosecutors have called for the girls to be given life imprisonment when they are sentenced next month.

Lawyers struggle to explain teenage murder motives

12yo charged over crime spree

Police in Perth have charged a 12-year-old boy they claim was involved in a three-day crime spree.

The boy has been charged with several serious offences, including stealing a motor vehicle and aggravated armed robbery.

It is alleged he and three accomplices aged between 17 and 25 stole a car on Friday night before using it to steal handbags from three women around the metropolitan area.

Police say two of the women were threatened with a knife.

The stolen vehicle was involved in a high-speed pursuit last night, reaching speeds of up to 160 kilometres an hour before it was stopped by police with a stinger device in Willeton.

The pursuit began on the Kwinana Freeway just after midnight, when police spotted a stolen vehicle.

It continued for about half an hour through Perth's southern suburbs, as well as the domestic and international airports.

The driver lost control of the vehicle on Leach Highway in Riverton after he tried to avoid the stinger device.

The driver escaped on foot but was arrested a short time later.

They boy's three accomplices - two females and one male - also face several charges, including stealing a motor vehicle and armed robbery.

12yo charged over crime spree

Police investigate triple stabbing in Perth

Police have cordoned off an area in Northbridge in Perth, where three people were stabbed early this morning.

Police say the stabbings occurred near the intersection of Roe and Fitzgerald streets about 2:30am AWDT.

Inspector Trevor Davis says police are investigating.

"A section of that area has been cordoned off for crime scene examination," he said.

"Detectives are interviewing witnesses."

St John's Ambulance says two of the victims were brothers and one received a serious stab wound under his armpit.

They have been taken to Royal Perth Hospital.

Meanwhile in Victoria Park a woman has died after being hit by a train.

Police say she was struck about 1:30am AWDT.

In southern WA, police are trying to determine the identity of a man who died in a traffic crash on the Redmond-Hay River Road, 20 kilometres north of Albany, about 1:00am AWDT.

His death comes after that of a 15-year-old boy who was injured in Kinross on Friday.

They boy was crossing Burns Beach Road when he ran into the side of a car.

He died in Royal Perth Hospital last night from head and internal injuries.

Police investigate triple stabbing in Perth