Latest news with #Rockingham
Daily Mail
17 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Cops share new CCTV after senior Comanchero bikie was left dumped outside hospital with gunshot wounds
New CCTV footage of a group of Comanchero bikies allegedly planning a shocking attack on one of their own has been released by police in a bid to solve the case. Leslie Grantham, 51, a senior member of the notorious gang, was found dumped with gruesome injuries outside Rockingham Hospital, in Perth, about 10pm on May 14. Grantham, nicknamed 'Lethal Les,' had burns and multiple gun shot wounds to his upper body and leg - believed to have been attempts to remove some of his tattoos. He was rushed to Perth Royal Hospital and has since been discharged, but is refusing to co-operate with authorities. CCTV released on Friday appeared to show a group of people arriving at Auburn Grove Train Station in three separate vehicles. Police believe the group were meeting and swapping vehicles as part of their plans for the alleged attack on Grantham. Detectives also released footage from after the incident, which showed one of the vehicles from the earlier meeting entering Rockingham Hospital emergency department carpark. That car was a white and grey Holden dual-cab utility, with WA registration 1BFC417. Police believe the ute was used to transport Grantham to the incident location, and then to the hospital afterwards. Detective Senior Sergeant Todd White said police were continuing to seek public assistance in their investigation. 'If you're thinking of joining an outlaw motorcycle gang, think again,' he said. 'This man has been left with brutal, life-changing injuries due to his association with an outlaw motorcycle gang.' Grantham was previously jailed in 2017 over threatening to shoot a man unless he paid $10,000 to compensate a prostitute he had allegedly mistreated. He was also jailed in 2015 along with nine other Comanchero bikie members over a plot to extract 'protection' money' of $10,000 a month from the owners of a karaoke bar in Sydney's north shore. The Comanchero motorcycle gang was first established in Sydney in 1966 and has since grown to over 500 members nationwide. The patch features an old western wagon wheel on a red background.
News.com.au
19 hours ago
- News.com.au
Police share new CCTV after gruesome attack on bikie trying to leave gang
New CCTV footage of a group allegedly planning a gruesome attack on a man intending to leave a bikie gang has emerged after he was found with his tattoos burned and shot off outside an emergency room. Police shared the new footage on Friday as they work to find those responsible for the gruesome alleged attack more than a month on. Leslie 'Lethal Les' Grantham, a 51-year-old senior member of the Comanchero bikie gang, was found outside the Rockingham Hospital, in Perth's south, about 10pm on May 14 with multiple gun shot wounds to his upper body and leg, as well as burns, police said. In the new footage, which police allege shows bikies planning the alleged attack, three cars, a white SUV, a black ute and a white ute are seen arriving in a car park at Auburn Grove Train Station. A group emerges from the white ute, which is first to leave the car park, and those people are seen getting into the white SUV shortly after. One person exits the black ute and appears to pass something to the group in the SUV as it also leaves the car park before driving off as well. The white ute, with number plates 1BFC417, was later captured pulling into Rockingham Hospital, allegedly with Mr Grantham inside. It has not been seen since. Police allege Mr Grantham had been trying to leave the outlaw motorcycle gang when the group turned on him. It is alleged his tattoos were burned off, he was repeatedly shot and set alight before finally being dumped and left for dead outside the hospital. Detective Senior Sergeant Anthony Thompson told media at the time of the attack anyone who was considering joining an outlaw motorcycle group should heed the 'callous' attack as a warning. The senior sergeant said Mr Grantham was well known to police and had been left with life-changing injuries. 'He's got burns to his legs, and we suspect that's a product of other people trying to remove his tattoos,' he alleged. 'He was a patch member, and he was a senior member, and he held a position of authority within that club. 'If you're thinking about joining an outlaw motorcycle gang, think again, this person has now been left with life-changing injuries … solely because he was a member.' Mr Grantham has since been released from hospital, but is refusing to co-operate with authorities.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Aussie roads dark for months as sinister $100 million trend escalates
It's an illegal, dangerous and growing trend right across Australia, and now copper theft has even left streets without lights in the country's west after opportunists stripped several major thoroughfares dry. A "lucrative and attractive venture for thieves", metal theft, and in particular stealing copper, has increased in prevalence in recent years, according to police. Authorities have warned those responsible for selling items like cables to scrap metal dealers, who melt and reshape them for use in electronics. They say not only is the act costly and inconvenient to energy providers and new homeowners, it's also extremely unsafe, with tradies often left to pick up the pieces after criminals rob worksites. In WA, roads in Rockingham, Kwinana and Mandurah have been left in the dark after thieves targeted streetlights. The lights have remained out for months along stretches of the Kwinana Freeway — including the Thomas Road, Safety Bay Road and Karnup Road off-ramps — as well as throughout Rockingham, in Ravenswood, and along Old Coast Road from Falcon to Dawesville, following a spate of cable thefts, according to local publications. According to the Australian Institute of Criminology, the federal government has estimated the annual cost of metal theft is valued at well over $100 million, with criminals frequently targeting worksites, new home builds, railway lines, electricity substations, sewerage works, hospitals and even schools. In WA, the state's Main Roads department agreed. It said locally, the figure had soared into the millions. In some cases, scrap dealers offer up to $6 per kilo for pure copper, $7 per kilo for mixed copper, and $2 per kilo for copper wire. Only gold and platinum fetch higher prices, trading for as much as $50 per gram. Main Roads confirmed that copper cable theft is a growing concern, with a spokesperson stating the agency is working closely with WA Police and other authorities to "mitigate the impacts and prosecute those illegally accessing vital public infrastructure, including assisting with the identification of stolen Main Roads cable when recovered." Thieves dressed as tradies costing millions in sinister nationwide trend Tradie's disbelief as thieves 'rip out' $300 item from under home Tradie's jaw-dropping act after client allegedly refuses to pay "As a result of copper cable theft, there are currently lighting outages across the road and path network, and Main Roads is working to restore these as soon as possible," the spokesperson told Sound Telegraph. In December, the department revealed a shocking 800,000 metres of cable had been stolen over the past five or six years. It's estimated that some $3 million worth of replacement cable is required per year. Copper theft isn't just a problem in WA, though, with reports of thefts increasing in all regions of Australia and overseas. Last year, Yahoo News spoke with a tradie who was stunned to discover copper had been stolen from a property left vacant for a few weeks between tenants. Local plumber and bathroom specialist Mick was told the house he was heading to in Coffs Harbour, NSW, had "no water" inside the home, yet the new tenants moving in could hear the sound of liquid "p**sing out" from somewhere under the house. After turning on the water, Mick noticed that it was "shooting straight up" from the ground under the house. Investigating its source, he found a "little copper pipe" sticking out that looked as though it had been "ripped off". The pipe should have been supplying the entire house with water. In Queensland, where the crime is particularly prevalent, thieves cost the state a whopping $4.5 million in damages to the electrical network in 2023 alone, with culprits even reportedly dressing a tradies to avoid detection while they make away with live wires. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Perth Now
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Perth Now
‘Gross use of public funds': WA council curbs legal policy
A controversial policy that allowed City of Rockingham councillors to use ratepayer funds to pursue defamation cases has been overturned. The policy was first adopted in 2001 to provide a 'safer working environment' for council members, although none have ever attempted to access the public money to sue. But after a concerns notice was raised in 2022, the policy was again debated by the council where it was hotly contested, passed six votes to five and readopted. It allowed councillors to access city funding to sue for defamation any 'person or organisation lessening the confidence of the community in the local government by publicly making adverse personal comments about council members'. At the May council meeting, Cr Kelly Middlecoat successfully moved a motion to have the contentious policy amended. Baldivis councillor Kelly Middlecoat. Credit: Supplied 'Amending the legal representation policy to disallow councillors from accessing ratepayer money to initiate defamation proceedings against residents in my opinion, was critical to rebuilding trust with residents, particularly given the community's strong opposition to the policy in when it was implemented in 2022,' Cr Middlecoat told the Sound Telegraph. 'The former policy did not include a financial limit that could be requested. It also extended to former councillors, a provision which lacks a clear connection to the ongoing governance and responsibilities of the council. 'This level of privilege stands in stark contrast to the support available to frontline workers like police officers and nurses, who do not have access to public funds for personal legal matters arising from their duties.' Cr Middlecoat said Rockingham's change was a proactive measure given upcoming changes to the Local Government Act would establish new safeguards to prohibit the use of public funds for legal costs. Community members strongly opposed the policy from the beginning, although council documents reveal that since its implementation no applications have been made for funding. Cr Lorna Buchan welcomed the motion after 'failing to stop the changes to the policy' in 2022. 'The reason I spoke out loudly against the policy and the changes is that it is a gross inappropriate use of public funds,' she added.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Major change to bins in Aussie city
Red waste bins in Perth will be downsized and collected only fortnightly under a State Government push to meet resource recovery targets. Perth residents will receive a new 240L lime green-lidded bin that is collected weekly for food scraps, garden waste and some paper products. The red-lidded general waste bins will be downsized to 140L and collected fortnightly. Yellow recycle bins will remain the same size and will be collected fortnightly. The West Australian Government has asked all local councils to adopt the three-bin food organics and garden organics (FOGO) system by June 2026, which is a key milestone in its Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Strategy 2030. The FOGO system is designed to 'improve recovery rates, increase diversion from landfill and reduce costs of processing material,' according to Recycle Right WA, by encouraging people to separate food scraps and garden waste from their general waste. The contents from the lime green-lidded FOGO bins can then be recycled into materials, such as compost, mulch and soil conditioner, which can be re-used. The system is slated to be implemented in the City of Rockingham by June 30 2025, with residents currently receiving a 'FOGO-ready kit' including a kitchen caddy, two rolls of certified compostable caddy liners, and a guide on how to FOGO. City of Rockingham Mayor Deb Hamblin welcomed the initiative and encouraged residents to embrace the change. 'It's exciting to see the final stages of FOGO about to be rolled-out,' she said. 'With this initiative, we'll join over 20 other local governments across Western Australia, working to drastically reduce the amount of household waste sent to landfill.' The system is supported by the State Government's $20 million Better Bins Plus: Go FOGO program. FOGO is currently available to 22 local governments in the Perth, Peel and South West regions and It's expected nine more local governments in Perth will introduce FOGO by June 2026. The NSW Government has also mandated the FOGO system for all households by 2030, and in Victoria, of green-lid FOGO will be available to all households receiving a council waste service by the end of June 2027.
