Saturday, June 25, 2016

Insider trader Oliver Curtis goes to jail








Insider trader Oliver Curtis spent his first night in jail last night and you have to wonder how he's going to survive twelve months locked away from his luxurious lifestyle.

Silverwater prison is located in Sydney where Curtis and his wife Roxy Jacenko have been living the good life with their two children in their $8 million home in upmarket Double Bay.

He's been on bail for three years and was shocked when the judge ordered him to jail for a minimum of twelve months yesterday, he expected to go home with his wife.







Justice McCallum said her decision had been influenced by the fact that Curtis did not show any remorse until after his conviction and had offered limited co-operation with police.

He'll be strip searched, assessed for suicide or self-harm and issued with a prison uniform, standard issue toiletries and bedding.

And unless it's found that there is an immediate risk to his personal safety, he will spend the next three weeks mixing with the general population while waiting to be processed.

Inmates will already know his history which bankrolled "a lifestyle of conspicuous extravagance" to quote Supreme Court Justice Lucy McCallum, so he could go immediately into protective custody.

If he does, he will mingle with informers, paedophiles, rapists, crooked cops and serial killers.





His former best friend and co-conspirator John Hartman served his 15 month sentence at Silverwater.  The school friends hatched the plan that netted more than $1.4 million profit.  Hartman who worked for Orien Asset Management told Curtis when to buy and sell "contracts for difference" and at what price, using information not available to the public.

Curtis's defence said that Hartman played a much bigger role than Curtis and that is why he got a shock when the judge sentenced him to two years, with a minimum 12 months jail.  

Prisoners at Silverwater are locked in their cells every afternoon at 2pm until 6am next morning, with five hours outdoor recreation time from 9am.

So this golden boy is in for the adventure of his life.

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Botched hysterectomy surgery ends in death




Colleen Stefanyszyn vomited faecal matter before she died from a botched hysterectomy at Newcastle Private Hospital on 1 December 2008.  Yes, that's 8 years ago and that's how long you have to wait for justice when our medical system lets us down.

This case frightens old people on a pension to keep up their private medical insurance even if they can't afford it because this lady had 'elective surgery' which means she was on a waiting list and the surgery cost her nothing - nothing but her life.

Private patients not only pay high premiums for the top cover, there is always a gap which sometimes runs into thousands of dollars.  This is why thousands of people, especially the old who really can't afford to, drop out and choose to go on the waiting list and have their op for free.

NSW Supreme Court Justice Monika Schmidt accepted Newcastle gynaecologist and obstetrician Dr Oliver Brown's admission that he breached his duty of care to Mrs Stefanyszyn and that it resuled in her death.

During the surgery, a loop of suture "inadvertently looped around her bowel" resulting in a blockage. The result was that Mrs Stefanyszyn vomited faecal matter from the third day, starting with "a coffee-coloured fluid" and died on the fourth day after surgery.

"Despite Mrs Stefanyszyn not recovering from the surgery as was expected and her deteriorating condition, the cause of her symptoms was not investigated, the blockage was not identified and surgical steps necessary to remove it were not taken, with her death the result" Justice Schmidt found.

"The result was that the blockage was not identified or addressed, infection set in, she repeatedly vomited faecal material, she inhaled some of that material with resulting pneumonia, her electrolytic balance became disordered, her oxygen levels deteriorated and finally, she suffered a fatal cardiac arrest." 

Justice Schmidt was also highly critical of the hospital and their staff who failed to record appropriate observations of the patient before she died.

"The hospital's failure "did not give rise to a mere possibility of injury, but actually materially contributed to her death which resulted from both its failures and those of Dr Brown" she said.

The matter returns to court on Friday when Justice Schmidt will consider whether the hospital should face contempt proceedings.

The judge was aware the hospital, Mrs Stefanyszyn's husband Walter and daughters Leigh and Megan had settled a compensation case.

Mr Stefanyszyn placed a notice in the Newcastle Herald on the second anniversary of his wife's death.

I have lost my soul's companion, a life linked to my own.  Day by day I miss you more, as I walk through life alone, forever Wal.

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Michael John Quinn arrested in LA







Melbourne man, Michael John Quinn is an IVF scientist who visited the US with his teammates to play in a gay Rugby Union tournament.

But he never made it to the game.  He was arrested at his LA hotel for allegedly attempting to arrange sex with a six year old boy.

According to the criminal complaint, the 33 year old accused paedophile allegedly arrived at the hotel on Saturday with a camera and a monopod - as well as $US260 in his pocket to pay the pimp who was bringing the boy.

Ten minutes after arriving at the hotel, Quinn had a beer with 'like-minded' men The Age reported.  What he didn't know was that these 'like-minded' men were undercover special agents.

A short time later, when the agent posing as a pimp arrived to collect payment, as soon as Quinn handed the money over, agents charged into the room and took him into custody.  Prosecutors said Quinn believed that after payment, the pimp would deliver the six year old boy to him.

According to the criminal complaint filed in LA, Quinn contacted a social networking site that caters to paedophiles looking for children, and was unaware he was talking to undercover Federal agents.

He is currently housed in Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Centre charged with attempted child sex trafficking offences which carries a minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum of life without parole.





Quinn is a Monash University-educated geneticist who works at Australia's largest fertility clinic in Melbourne.

His Rugby teammates had no knowledge of his intentions.

He will appear in the US Federal Court in LA on Friday.

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Another Australian justice system failure

Shabbir Mohammedbhai Vaziri




Here is just another example that reinforces the view that our justice system is failing the will of the people.

Justice Peter Johnson originally sentenced the imam who organized the genital mutilation of two little girls to 11 months home detention. What was he thinking?  Confining this religious leader to the comfort of his own home is no punishment at all.

But he's had an epiphany.

In a surprise turnaround, Justice Peter Johnson this morning jailed Shabbir Mohammedbhai Vaziri 59, to at least 11 months jail for his part is trying to cover up the female genital mutiltation of two sisters when they were aged 6 and 7.



Kubra Magennis




Kubra Magennis, the former midwife who carried out the procedure was sentenced to 11 month home detention.

The girls mother 39, was sentenced to at least 11 months home detention for arranging for her daughters to have their clitorises cut on two different occasions in Wollongong and in Sydney between October 2009 and August 2012.

When will these people get the message that this barbaric practice is illegal in Australia and won't be tolerated?

Monday, June 13, 2016

USA National Parks and Alaska Vacation





We took a 20 day package to America to see some of America's best National Parks plus a seven day cruise on the Celebrity Solstice to Alaska.

I'll let my pictures do the talking.

The Grand Canyon 



Monument Valley




Arches





We had a brief stop at Afton for lunch.   They have an elk horn arch right across the main street. The elk shed their antlers naturally so no harm is done to the animal.









A shop owner came out to chat and we discussed the powerful gun lobby, and he said he was 'carrying' and lifted his shirt to reveal a small gun in a leather holster on his hip.   These were some of the signs in his window which tells you what he's thinking.





Yellowstone




There is a not-for-profit facility that looks after bears who have been a problem for humans, mainly by stealing food from campers but sometimes aggressive behaviour.  They are happy here and will never be released back into the wild because they could no longer survive.  The same goes for the wolves.




Yellowstone has many beautiful waterfalls.





Bryce Canyon




Las Vegas




Zion




Chaos in Seattle as thousands of people wait to board cruise ships to Alaska.



The Celebrity Solstice










We took a train ride into the mountains in Skagway, Alaska





The Empress Hotel, Victoria - capital of British Columbia, Canada





A parting treat to ourselves - lunch at Elliott's Oyster House, on the waterfront at Seattle.







Back to LA and home.

Beautiful country, beautiful people.