Guns down, ice rising: NSW crime report

Gun crimes in NSW are down over the last quarter for the first time, but ice use are still a worry. Source: AAP

GUN crimes in NSW are down over the last quarter for the first time, but new figures reinforce NSW is in grip of an ice epidemic.

ILLEGAL shootings and shootings without murderous intent both decreased in the three months to September, a NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research report shows.

With drive-by shootings stable, along with an increased number of prohibited weapons being taken off the streets, it suggests a police crackdown on gun crime has so far been a success.A long-running spate of tit-for-tat shootings, many of which were gang-related, prompted Operation Talon and Strike Force Raptor to be formed in recent years."We will proactively go out after people involved in crime where they use a gun," NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said on Wednesday."That includes full use of firearms prohibition orders, through to search provisions and all legislative support we've received to make it really, really hard (for gun crime)."The BOCSAR report also shows robberies, thefts, break-and-enters, and non-domestic assaults have decreased.Across the 17 major crime categories, seven are down while the rest have remained stable."For the second consecutive quarter, crime is down in NSW - we've set a new a record," said Police and Emergency Services Minister Stuart Ayres.And while reported incidents of domestic assaults have increased, this may be a positive as as it shows victims are speaking up more often.Mr Scipione says domestic violence is grossly under reported in NSW and Australia."We actually set targets to see an increase in that crime category," he said."If we don't, we know we're not being effective in our communication."But he said the overall level of domestic violence was "horrific", with NSW police attending more than 120,000 domestic incidents last year.Mr Ayres said the national ice epidemic has taken hold in NSW, proven by a 26 per cent rise amphetamine detections."Please don't try it, don't even tempt yourself with it - it will destroy your life faster than any other drug," he said.NSW CRIME STATS SNAPSHOT* Unlawful shootings down 23.6 per cent* Shooting with intent other than murder down 35.7 per cent* Breaking and entering home down 8.7 per cent* Robbery without a weapon down 20.4 per cent* Retail theft down 9.1 per cent* Amphetamine detection up 26 per cent* Prohibited weapon detections up 22 per cent* Sexual, indecent assault stable* Fraud stable* Murders stable(Source: NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research)

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'Number spoofing' scam hits UK consumers

BRITISH consumers are increasingly being targeted by a "number spoofing" scam in which criminal gangs fool telephones into displaying the numbers of legitimate organisations.

THE con works by fraudsters cloning the telephone number of a trusted organisation such as a bank and then making that number appear on the victim's caller ID display, according to Financial Fraud Action UK, the name under which the financial services industry co-ordinates its fraud prevention efforts.

They do this using technology, often employed by call centres, which can copy any number even if the one they are calling from is entirely different.The criminal will gain the victim's trust by drawing their attention to the number, claiming it is proof of their identity, before trying to defraud them.Banks have reported an increase in the scam, which is a new variation on telephone frauds where criminals cold-call people and pose as bank staff, police officers or other trusted organisations to persuade their victim to part with financial and personal details.Often, criminals pretend they are phoning to tell the victim that a fraud has been detected on their bank account.Once they have their victim's confidence, they will try to elicit information such as the victim's PIN details, online passwords or other sensitive information which will then be used to steal from their bank account.Some criminals will also trick victims into sending money to other accounts or to hand over cash or cards to a courier for "safe-keeping", whereas in reality the courier is delivering the card straight to the fraudster.The anti-fraud body's intelligence unit, the Financial Fraud Bureau, has seen evidence that the scam has become increasingly common in recent weeks, with organised criminal gangs making use of it.It warns people never to assume that someone is who they say they are just because their number matches that of an organisation.If someone tries to draw a consumer's attention to the number on their caller ID display, the consumer should immediately treat this as a warning sign of a scam.A bank or the police would never call someone and ask for their four-digit PIN, full online banking passwords or ask them to transfer or withdraw money or to hand their card over to a courier.

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Qualcomm buying CSR in $US2.5 billion deal

QUALCOMM is buying British chip maker CSR in a deal worth approximately $US2.5 billion ($A2.7 billion) as it pushes aggressively into technology that connects devices over the internet.

QUALCOMM said on Wednesday that it will pay STG9 per CSR share.

CSR concentrates on the auto, consumer, and voice and music segments. It has 2130 employees in 11 countries. The company's fiscal 2013 revenue totalled $US960.7 million.Qualcomm Inc, one of the biggest makers of chips used in mobile devices, expects the deal to add to its adjusted earnings per share in fiscal 2016.The board of CSR Plc unanimously approved the buyout, but it still requires the approval of CSR shareholders.The deal is expected to close by the end of the summer of 2015.Shares of Qualcomm, based in San Diego, rose slightly before the opening bell on Wednesday.

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UK student confirmed as MH17 victim

A BRITISH student flying out to attend the University of Western Australia has been formally identified as one of the victims of the Malaysia Airlines MH17 air crash over Ukraine in July.

BEN Pocock, 20, from Keynsham, Bristol, was a second year international business degree student at Loughborough University, flying out to begin a professional placement and to study at the Perth university as part of his third year.

All 298 people on board the flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur died when the jet was shot down on July 17 over an area of Ukraine controlled by pro-Russia separatists.The victims of the crash included 38 Australian citizens and residents, 10 Britons, 43 Malaysians and 195 Dutch nationals.In a statement issued through Avon and Somerset Police on Wednesday, Pocock's parents, Jeremy and Louise, said their son had been formally identified."We can confirm that Ben was a victim of the disaster," they said."We would like to thank all those who have sent us messages of support and tributes to Ben, and we would ask to be allowed to grieve and come to terms with our loss."Speaking after the tragedy, Pocock's family paid tribute to him in a statement to the Press Association."He was a gifted academic, talented athlete, but more importantly a warm, caring, fun-loving son and brother who had an extremely bright future ahead of him," they said.

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900 French jihadi in Iraq and Syria

Wheels and deals in land swap stoush

BRISBANE City Council has let a site to an Audi motor car dealer after purchasing the property for $17 million and evicting the existing Audi dealer.

Cape York leases handed back

THE State Government will divide a whopping 5000sq km of Cape York land into a mix of national park, Aboriginal land and ­nature reserves.

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Palmer dismisses nepotism claims

Wheels and deals in land swap stoush

BRISBANE City Council has let a site to an Audi motor car dealer after purchasing the property for $17 million and evicting the existing Audi dealer.

Cape York leases handed back

THE State Government will divide a whopping 5000sq km of Cape York land into a mix of national park, Aboriginal land and ­nature reserves.

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France to send weapons to Iraq

French President Francois Hollande has said France will supply arms to Iraq's Kurdish forces. Source: AAP

FRANCE will send arms to Kurdish forces in Iraq to support their fight against radicals of the Islamic State group, French President Francois Hollande announced.

A STATEMENT Hollande's office said the arms shipment will be delivered "in the coming hours" and has been agreed with authorities in Baghdad.

Citing the "catastrophic" situation in Iraqi Kurdistan, it added that "mobilisation in support of Kurdistan and of all Iraq must continue."The statement did not specify what weapons France was sending.The surprise announcement comes as the United States has also increased its role in fighting back Sunni extremists of the Islamic State group that is threatening the autonomous Kurdish region in the north of Iraq. Senior American officials say US intelligence agencies are directly arming the Kurds who are battling the militants, which would be a shift in Washington's policy of only working through the central government in Baghdad.Other European leaders were also feeling the pressure to respond to the emergency. France called earlier this week for an urgent meeting of European Union foreign ministers to consider Kurdish requests for arms and an aid airlift to northern Iraq.Earlier on Wednesday, France had pledged to deliver a second shipment of humanitarian aid to northern Iraq in a bid to help religious minorities persecuted by advancing radicals.The foreign ministry said in a statement the airlift of 20 tonnes of medicine, tents and water treatment material will arrive in the Iraqi Kurdish capital, Irbil later on Wednesday.The shipment is enough to provide assistance to 50,000 people, it said, and it pledged further operations in the coming days "to aid populations in serious danger."On Sunday French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius travelled to Irbil to deliver an initial shipment of aid. France has taken a strong stance on the need to protect Christians and other minorities being persecuted in northern Iraq.

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Caretaker's death ends whiskey theft case

THE former live-in caretaker of a Pittsburgh-area mansion has died, ending criminal charges that he drank more than $US102,000 ($A110,360) worth of old whiskey that he was supposed to be guarding.

A DISTRICT judge last year ordered 63-year-old John Saunders, of Irwin, to stand trial after hearing testimony from the owner of the South Broadway Manor Bed and Breakfast.

But Saunders reportedly died July 21, ending the case.The mansion's owner had claimed she found nine 12-bottle cases of whiskey hidden in the century-old mansion built by industrialist J.P. Brennan after she bought it in 2012.The whiskey was produced in the early 1900s and was appraised at more than $US2,000 a bottle. Saunders was charged after the owner discovered 52 empty bottles on which police found DNA from Saunders' saliva.

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Funeral for Game Of Thrones actor Murphy

Wheels and deals in land swap stoush

BRISBANE City Council has let a site to an Audi motor car dealer after purchasing the property for $17 million and evicting the existing Audi dealer.

Cape York leases handed back

THE State Government will divide a whopping 5000sq km of Cape York land into a mix of national park, Aboriginal land and ­nature reserves.

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Second S Leone doctor dies from Ebola

Wheels and deals in land swap stoush

BRISBANE City Council has let a site to an Audi motor car dealer after purchasing the property for $17 million and evicting the existing Audi dealer.

Cape York leases handed back

THE State Government will divide a whopping 5000sq km of Cape York land into a mix of national park, Aboriginal land and ­nature reserves.

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