A man convicted of murdering two nursing home residents is appealing his lengthy jail term on the basis there was no motive, and claims the killer may have been a woman. Garry Steven Davis was sentenced in December 2016 to 40 years in jail for murdering two residents and attempting to murder a third in 2013 at Wallsend’s SummitCare nursing home. Residents Gwen Fowler, 83, and Ryan Kelly, 80, died as a result of insulin injections. Audrey Manuel, 91, recovered but had since died from unrelated causes. Davis was found guilty of all three offences in a judge-only trial presided over by Supreme Court Justice Robert Hulme. Justice Hulme said Davis had acted with extreme callousness, and it was as if he thought the residents’ lives were worthless. During the trial, the defence agreed with the Crown that none of the victims were insulin-dependent, but in his submission to the Court of Criminal Appeal, solicitor Mark Ramsland said there was no proof it had been Davis who gave the victims the insulin. It was the prosecution’s circumstantial case that Mr Davis was the only person who could have injected all three residents. But the defence submission said not enough weight had been given to evidence by police that 19 other staff members and five other people were potential suspects. They were all in the home at the relevant time, but the Crown successfully argued they could be ruled out. “It is submitted that there was a possibility reasonably open on the facts that these offences had been committed by two or more people, where in pursuit of a joint criminal enterprise or otherwise,” Mr Ramsland said.
September 3, 2018
A woman will face court charged with allegedly abusing an elderly dementia sufferer in her care. Police were called to a unit in Station St, Thirroul, north of Wollongong, on Friday night and allegedly heard the sounds of “moaning, shouting and approximately 11 slapping noises”. The officers went to the rear of the property where they allegedly saw Alicia Gawronski, 28, walking the 81-year-old victim from the bathroom through the kitchen and then to the loungeroom. Police will allege they then saw the older woman fall over before Gawronski “punched her with a closed fist to the inner thigh of her left leg”. The officers then allegedly saw Gawronski lift the older woman by both legs, causing her to fall. Gawronski, who was recently appointed the older woman’s carer and legal guardian, was then arrested. while the older woman was taken to Wollongong Hospital where she was treated.
August 31, 2018
Fleetwood Corporation has accounced Elizabeth Maynard will be appointed as General Counsel and Company Secretary effective from 3 September 2018. Andrew Wackett, who is Fleetwood’s Chief Financial Officer and was appointed interim Company Secretary on 5 July 2018, will continue to serve the Company as joint Company Secretary.
August 31, 2018
Newling Gardens Retirement Village has appointed a new Village Manager, Sue Nelson.
August 31, 2018
An application for approval of the Application by The State of Victoria T/A The Department of Health and Human Services (s.185 – Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement) is currently being heard by Deputy President Kovacic in the Fair Work Commission CML Building 17 – 21 University Avenue Canberra.
August 31, 2018
Communities @ Work Limited is in its third day answering a s.394 (Application for Unfair Dismissal Remedy) before Deputy President Kovacic in the Fair Work Commission CML Building 17 – 21 University Avenue Canberra (Gulia)
August 30, 2018
Aggrieved Canning Vale retirement village residents have expressed disappointment over plans for a petrol station directly opposite their home. The proposed 24-hour convenience store with filling stations is part of a wider redevelopment of the site on the corner of Nicholson and Birnam Roads, currently occupied by Nicholson’s Bar and Grill. The development also includes a two-storey tavern, a doctor’s consultation rooms and an office block.
August 30, 2018
Catholic Dioesce T/A Centacare North Queensland is in middle of its defence of a s.394 (Application for unfair dismissal remedy) before Commissioner Hunt in the Fair Work Commission Central Plaza Two Level 14 66 Eagle Street Brisbane.
