A man who broke into a home at Parkside in Adelaide’s south and twice raped a woman in her bed has been found guilty.

It took a District Court jury one hour to find Michael Paul Benfell guilty of two counts of rape and one count of aggravated serious criminal trespass.

Benfell, 26, walked into the house through an unlocked back door before getting into bed with the sleeping woman on April 10, 2018.

During the trial, the court heard the room was blacked out, and the victim initially thought it was her boyfriend, because he had been at her house earlier in the night.

“The entire incident was over quickly an...

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has told the inquiry into the state’s hotel quarantine scheme that Health Minister Jenny Mikakos was responsible for the failed program.

In a written statement, Mr Andrews said Ms Mikakos was in charge of the program following a cabinet meeting on April 8.

“I then regarded Minister Mikakos as accountable for the Program. The CCC (Crisis Council of Cabinet) was provided with regular reports by Minister Mikakos containing data relevant to Victoria’s response to the public health emergency,” he said.

Ms Mikakos told the inquiry her department was not solely responsible for the program, known as Operation Soteria.

The Premier also said he was unaware of who made the critical decision to use private security guards as the first line of defence at the hotels.

“...

Claremont killer victim Ciara Glennon’s father, Denis, has strongly criticised some media reporting of the murder of his daughter in an emotional press conference at WA police headquarters, after yesterday’s historic conviction of Bradley Edwards.

Edwards, 51, was found guilty of wilfully murdering 27-year-old Ms Glennon and Jane Rimmer, 23, more than two decades ago, but not guilty of the murder of Sarah Spiers — murders that became known as the Claremont serial killings.

Mr Glennon said his family had experienced “countless heartbreaking setbacks” over the years, mostly caused by insensitive and inaccurate reporting of the case, “which serve little or no legitimate public interest value or purpose”.

“The dramatic headlines, the subjective content repeatedly cast doubt on the investiga...

“Flabbergasted.” That’s the universal response I’ve been hearing from consumer rights advocates to the Federal Government’s proposed abolition of the responsible lending obligations.

They simply can’t understand what the Government is aiming to achieve by freeing banks from their legal obligation to check whether potential borrowers can afford to repay a loan before they are granted it.

Other than a free kick for the banks.

“As we learnt to our cost during the GFC, weaker lending standards mean people will be loaded up with as much debt as possible. There is significant profit to be made in pushing borrowers to the edge,” said Financial Counselling Australia’s Fiona Guthrie.

So, how ’bout them Broncos?

Look, I don’t want to write about these guys again while there are bizarre new rules being trialled and Australia’s most famous rugby sevens Olympic gold medallists are joining the NRLW.

But when the biggest team in rugby league officially becomes the worst team in rugby league for the first time in its 33-season history, it can’t be ignored.

So how bad was the 2020 season and what’s next as Brisbane tries to swim out of uncharted waters?

How bad were the 2020 Brisbane Broncos?

Really, really very bad.

Despite not being confirmed as wooden spooners until the last round of the regular season, the Broncos have been the worst team in the NRL for a good few months.

They kept thei...

With two stabbings in Surfers Paradise this week, crime and safety in the entertainment precinct has again fallen under the public spotlight.

But with the Defence Force withdrawing its presence from Queensland’s borders on September 30, a local councillor has raised concerns that police resources will be strained further.

“We don’t have enough police on the ground at the moment,” Cr Darren Taylor said.

“We do have [CCTV] cameras that can assist police, the problem is if we detected a conc...

New South Wales Shellharbour MP Anna Watson is naming her proposed coercive control bill ‘Preethi’s law’ in memory of Preethi Reddy, who was murdered by her former partner.

The 32-year-old dentist was killed by her ex-boyfriend in March 2019.

Dr Reddy, who worked at a Blue Mountains dental practice at the time of her death, was previously employed at Dapto Smile Dental Centre in Ms Watson’s electorate.

Snow has fallen across South Australia’s Mid-North and possibly at Mount Lofty in unusually cold weather for the end of September.

Temperatures have fallen to as low as 1.4 degrees Celsius at Mount Lofty, the tallest mountain near Adelaide.

Locals in the state’s Mid-North say they have woken to some of the heaviest snow falls seen in many years.

Whyte Yarcowie resident Judy Lewis said she woke to a white blanket over her car and front yard.

Ms Lewis said she could not believe it.

“I got up to make a coffee and I looked out and I thought ‘what’s all that white on ...

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