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Subscriber only A Coast man who allegedly broke into a Coast unit block and robbed a person while armed with a chair has had his trial put on hold after the jury was stood down. Maroochydore District Court on Tuesday heard Anthony John Pederson and his co-accused broke into a Caloundra home at night and robbed a person while armed with a chair on August 29, 2019. It was alleged Mr Pederson used violence in the incident. Anthony John Pederson covered his face with a cap, sunglasses and a face mask while re-entering the Maroochydore Court House. Picture: Laura Pettigrew.
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Subscriber only The trial of an ex-council CEO accused of arranging a $500,000 severance payment for himself before he resigned has heard councillors thought the amount could come back to bite them. Former Hope Vale Aboriginal Shire Council chief executive Lee Robertson was charged with one count of fraud in 2015 after a Crime and Corruption Commission investigation. He had resigned from his role three years earlier. Mr Robertson pleaded not guilty to fraudulently obtaining $500,459.20 (before tax) when his trial began on Monday. Former councillors Carmen Rose Pearson, Dwayne Richard Bowen and Christopher Woibo gave evidence in the Maroochydore District Court on Wednesday along with former Hope Vale Aboriginal Shire Council s then acting CEO Ross Higgins and human resource manager Ivan Hagemeyer.
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Subscriber only A 73-year-old father who preyed upon the trust of a girl and two women when he secretly filmed them in a bathroom will spend nine months behind bars. Ross Harold Bell set up cameras to film two women and a child unrelated to him between July 2013 and March last year. Crown prosecutor William Slack told the court it was a blatant invasion of privacy and would affect the dignity and bodily integrity of these female complainants . He said the young girl s breasts and genitalia were clearly visible in 22 of the 23 videos which showed her getting undressed, showering, and drying herself.