Aussie motorists getting angrier: report

Australian drivers are getting angrier and they're not shy about showing other motorists exactly how they feel.

Figures released by insurance company AAMI shows driver aggression is at an all-time high with acts of revenge becoming increasingly popular.

The figures show 68 per cent of drivers had been tailgated at some point, while 32 per cent said they had been followed.

The number of motorists who considered tailgating to be an acceptable response to road rage had more than quadrupled since AAMI first canvassed road rage among drivers in 1997 when just five per cent said they had been angry enough to tailgate another driver.

Alarmingly, one in seven drivers surveyed said they had been forced off the road, while one in 10 have had their car wilfully damaged as a result of an altercation with another motorist.

Two-thirds, or 69 per cent, said they had been verbally abused, while four in five, or 83 per cent, had received rude hand gestures.

More than half (57 per cent) of those surveyed admitted to gesturing rudely or yelling at another driver when they had done something dangerous or rude.

Of those, 83 per cent thought the payback was justified.

"While many of us have sworn or gestured rudely at other drivers from time to time, it is completely unacceptable that one-fifth of drivers have become so angry with the actions of another motorist that they have resorted to tailgating," AAMI public affairs manager Geoff Hughes said.

"If this wasn't bad enough, 60 per cent of those drivers thought tailgating as retribution was entirely justifiable."

"The rise in road rage is worrying in itself, however, also concerning is the increasing number of motorists who believe this sort of retaliation is entirely acceptable," Mr Hughes said.

Judge clips driver's wings

A woman serving jail time because she believed it was her "God-given" right to drive without a licence, has failed to have a conviction overturned by the NSW Supreme Court.

Losalina Rainima, who is a member of a group known as the "United People's Movement Against Road Taxes" has been in jail since her arrest in December last year for driving while disqualified.

The Fijian-born woman had been fined, had her licence revoked and was placed on a five-year good behaviour bond but refused to enter the bond and was subsequently jailed.

Ms Rainima also refused to accept the conditions of parole, telling the court: "Christ has redeemed me from these laws. I am of good mind and good intent. There is no law to which I need to answer in this case ..."

"I have a right of passage. I have a right of movement. All living things are given graces - the birds fly, the fish swim, the kangaroo hops and I've been given good graces to drive."

In his decision Justice Peter Hidden said the arguments advanced by Ms Rainima were "entirely without substance and were doomed to fail".

"Either the driver licensing legislation is valid or it is not. If it is, all of us, including the plaintiff, are bound by it and no inalienable right resides within any of us to free us from obligations which it imposes."

He found that no credible challenge has been mounted to the legislation and that would be the end of the matter.

He reminded Ms Rainima that her license was disqualified until May 2023.

Man acquitted of killing rabbiting friends

A man who killed two mates riding on the tray of his ute on a drunken early morning rabbit shoot has been acquitted of two culpable driving convictions by Victoria's Court of Appeal.

Paul Jacob Poduska, 28, was tired and affected by alcohol when he left a Healesville hotel at 3am and took a taxi with three friends to a nearby vineyard he managed, where they decided to go rabbiting.

He was driving at less than 15 km/h along the edge of a creek looking for rabbits when his ute slid down the bank and overturned, killing James Herbert, 26, and Kale Shaw, 18, who were on the tray.

Poduska had a blood alcohol reading of 0.08 more than two hours after the crash on February 7, 2004.

He was sentenced in November to 3 years jail, with a minimum of two years, after a County Court jury found him guilty of two counts of culpable driving.

In a Court of Appeal judgement handed down yesterday, Justice Peter Buchanan said the trial judge had failed to spell out the factors the Crown relied upon to prove that Poduska's driving was grossly negligent.

He said it was open to the jury to find that Poduska had been negligent by driving off the track and close to a creek at night, with two passengers on the tray, while he was tired and affected by alcohol.

"Unless the trial judge identified (those) matters on which the Crown relied . . . there was a risk the jury may have taken into account matters which the Crown did not or could not have relied upon," he said.

Justice Buchanan said there was evidence that Poduska had in fact driven with care, over familiar territory, and was "edging along" when the ute slipped into the gully.

"The evidence rather pointed to the conclusion that the applicant did have proper control and that the accident was due to his mistaken belief, for which there were reasonable grounds, that the (ute) was well short of the edge of the gully," he said.

All three appeal judges agreed the trial had miscarried because of the judge's failure to properly direct the jury. Justice Philip Mandie agreed with Justice Buchanan that Poduska should be acquitted, but Justice Geoffrey Nettle said there was sufficient evidence to justify a conviction and called for a retrial.

"Two young men were killed and it is not in issue that (Poduska) was the driver of the vehicle that killed them," Justice Nettle said.

"The errors which necessitate that the conviction be quashed were technical and they were made by the judge, not the Crown.

"It is in the interest of the public, the deceased and (Poduska) himself that the question of his guilt or otherwise be determined finally by the verdict of a jury, and not left as something which must remain undecided by reason of a defect in legal machinery."

County Court trial judge Jim Duggan told the Court of Appeal he had expected the jury to acquit Poduska and that "it was not a strong case".

During sentencing, Judge Duggan described the accident as tragic and said Mr Shaw and Mr Herbert's families had not blamed Poduska for the men's deaths.

A Corrections Victoria spokeswoman said Poduska would be freed once court paperwork had been finalised.

Kiddy criminals, 8, let off with warnings

KIDDY criminals are being apprehended by police at an alarming rate of more than 50 a week for offences including assaults, car theft, malicious damage, armed hold-ups and drug dealing.

Figures on crime rates among 8, 9, and 10 year olds compiled by police show the distressing extent of the mayhem in some areas caused by children running wild.

Police logged 7724 offences by children under 10 between January 1, 2005 and September 30, 2007.

The crimes are very adult but police and welfare agencies admit they have no legal power to charge or punish these pint-size thugs, thieves, vandals and rapists.

The only option is a stern lecture and a call to parents, and possibly a referral to the Department of Community Services. Only when children are in the older 10-14 age bracket is there a possibility of an appearance in the Children's Court.

[No certainly not the only option. A better option for instance would be to teach all children 'equally' social skills in school or at the earliest intervention. Like, Social Responsibilities, Communication, Conflict Resolution, Self-Worth, and Life-Skills, now please read the links and don't be stupid all your life Daily Telegraph, That is if you want get out of the minimum security Prison Planet. PS) this world was not only made for the 'Takers' but also for the 'Leaver-Givers'. In Australia today up to three generations of parents don't have socials skills to pass on to their children. Publik and NSW Community News Network have been saying that for two decades, at least and why this society is falling apart is because of lack of understanding and ignorance - and not knowledge and understanding.]

The data was released following a Freedom of Information request and intervention by the Ombudsman after a nine-month delay.

The figures reveal:

* ONE murder last year by a 10-year-old, although details of the crime are not available;

* 141 sexual assaults and other sexual offences, including 31 by eight year olds;

* 41 robberies, including two involving firearms;

* 47 drug offences, including four where the children were dealing in cannabis, amphetamines or other drugs;

* 584 driving offences, including 113 by eight-year-olds;

* 355 break and enters, including 87 by eight-year-olds;

* 1109 assaults, including both domestic and non-domestic violence; and;

* 1613 cases of malicious damage to property, including 301 by eight-year-olds.

A police spokesman said children taken into ustody in this age group are returned to their parents without formal charging.

The youngsters do not face further action in court due to the presumption of doli incapax, the legal position that they are incapable of being held responsible for a crime.

"Children under 10 cannot be guilty of an offence. This is an unrebuttable presumption," the spokesman said.

It's not even automatic that the children's names are passed on to the Department of Community Services (DOCS). Only if there is a risk to the child's safety are police required to notify DOCS.

Former Children's Court Magistrate Barbara Holborow said there were more "feral" tender-aged offenders than ever. She said it's her experience that these children continue committing crimes until eventually they are old enough to appear in a Children's Court some years later.

"I don't know whether it's because so many parents are working by necessity, loss of parents' rights, poor discipline at home or whatever, but something is wrong," she said.

Victims of Crime Assistance League executive director Robyn Cotterell-Jones agreed.

"There's no fear any more in children about authority. They have the attitude that no one can touch me," she said.

Often the victims of child crimes were other children, especially in the area of sexual assault, she said. Ignoring the crime because the offender was under 10 may mean the victim does not get appropriate justice or help.

"The silencing mechanisms that are supposed to stop a child who does a crime being scarred for life may also mean horrible crimes are covered up," she said.

Related:

Government must do more to support families
The Federal Families Minister Jenny Macklin must do more to support families instead of neglecting them because of the acute child abuse levels that are alarmingly high.

Govt, union defend remote community schooling
The Centre for Independent Studies says Aboriginal students in the Northern Territory are finishing school with the numeracy and literacy skills of five-year-olds.

Laws will push teenagers into adult prisons
TWELVE young offenders who have brought a court challenge against their transfer from juvenile to adult jails have been dealt a blow after the State Government rushed laws into Parliament that may ensure they are moved. Seven were shifted to adult jails from juvenile detention centres in March and April soon after their 18th birthdays despite judges' orders that they serve their sentence in a juvenile facility until 21 because of special vulnerabilities.

Teachers urge Govt to stem school violence
New South Wales teachers say the State Government should be putting more resources into tackling violence in public schools, after it was revealed 252 official reports of assault or serious threats were made last year. The figures are contained in reports released by the state's Education Department, which show more than 10 per cent of the state's schools reported at least one serious incident in the six months to September last year.

Principals agree: cut out social subjects
"The curriculum is far too crowded and we know from our research that not all schools can do what is being asked of them," she said. "The social responsibilities being placed on primary schools are ever increasing, taking time and resources away from our core business."

Jail parents of truants, says Iemma
EDUCATION and welfare experts have ridiculed Morris Iemma's plan to send parents to jail if their children repeatedly miss school, saying the policy is "heavy-handed" and will only hurt the most disadvantaged students.

Children 'sexually abusing classmates'
The inquiry has spent the last two days in Boggabilla and Toomelah, where about 70 people gathered to give evidence yesterday.

Intervention 'a smokescreen for land grab'
A delegate at an anti-intervention conference being held in Sydney this weekend says the general feeling is that the intervention is all about taking land away from Indigenous people.

Girls gone wild?
While these figures point to a disturbing trend, those searching for the reasons behind it paint a complex picture of women's changing identities, and an apparent acceptance of an increasingly violent culture.

Girls broke law to see jailed friends: Police
Two 14-year-old girls from Carnarvon, in central western Western Australia, who pleaded guilty to several burglaries, told police they committed the crimes so they could spend time with friends already in custody.

2nd Renaissance - Beyond Industrial Capitalism and Nation States
The very notions of the rule of law and judicial punishment are socially corrosive and damaging to the spiritual consciousness of both the people subjected to them and those that practice them. The following diagram shows the choices we have, right now, as the 2nd Renaissance gathers pace and a Level 4 Civilization lies ahead of us.

International Conference on Penal Abolition


The full agenda for ICOPA is now online, and pending any further changes, the line-up is looking like we're going to have a fascinating conference. With speakers coming to present papers from Brazil, Trinidad, Canada, Australia, USA, Belgium, Argentina, South Africa plus many more including the UK, we are really looking at a truly international conference.

Woman who killed friend avoids prison

A Canberra woman who admitted killing her best friend by crashing her car into a brick letterbox, then another vehicle, while under the influence of drugs and alcohol has escaped a full-time prison sentence.

Samantha Jane Moffat, 33, had pleaded guilty in the ACT Supreme Court to culpable driving causing death over the April 2007 accident which left her friend Lynn Herringe, 43, dead.

Justice Hilary Penfold, in sentencing Moffat on Thursday, said there were "no winners" in such a tragic case and no sentence, however severe, would bring Ms Herringe back.

Moffat was sentenced to 12 months' periodic detention with a further 12 months suspended.

She was also placed on a three-year good behaviour bond and disqualified from driving for the same period.

Justice Penfold told Moffat she should use her time in weekend detention - which starts on Friday - to seek treatment for her mental health problem and alcohol abuse issues.

Moffat was driving Ms Herringe's car to get cigarettes when she crashed in the early hours of April 29 last year killing her passenger.

The court heard Moffat was doing 85km/h in a 60km/h zone and was under the influence of amphetamines and alcohol.

She recorded a blood alcohol level of 0.185.

Justice Penfold said she had taken Moffat's early guilty plea into account when determining the sentence.

The plea avoided an expensive trial, demonstrated remorse and saved Ms Herringe's family the trauma of a long court case, she said.

During sentencing proceedings, widower Peter Herringe read aloud a victim impact statement detailing how his family had been devastated by the death of his wife of 20 years.

He also, in his statement, told the court his wife's twin sister, Gaye, had committed suicide just five weeks after Ms Herringe's death.

The court heard a mental health report stating that Moffat, who has a 12-year-old son, had been diagnosed with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, and was at a high risk of committing suicide.

The report said she had suffered guilt and remorse since the accident, and had recognised she had a drug and alcohol disorder.

Moffat had told the court she accepted full responsibility for her actions.