Memorial service for ‘kind’ Buckeridge

Len Buckeridge's memorial service held at the Cottesloe Civic Centre in Cottesloe. Source: News Corp Australia

WA businessman Len Buckeridge has been remembered as an extraordinary man who lived an extraordinary life in a touching memorial service in Cottesloe today.

Mr Buckeridge, a giant in the WA business world and one of the states' richest men, died aged 77 last Tuesday.

Today, hundreds of people turned out to remember the larger than life character at a memorial service at the picturesque Cottesloe Civic Centre in glorious autumn weather.

Among those who turned out for the service were Mr Buckeridge's children, his wife Tootsie, his grandchildren, plus a string of dignitaries including WA Governor Malcolm McKusker, Premier Colin Barnett, Federal MP's Don Randall and Gary Gray and former premier Richard Court.

Anna Buckeridge speaking at Len Buckeridge's memorial service held at the Cottesloe Civic Centre in Cottesloe.

Those who spoke at the service included his grandchildren, his longtime legal adviser Michael Hodgkin, his son's Sam and Julian and Mr McKusker, who previously acted as a lawyer for the 77-year-old BGC boss.

Anna Buckeridge, one of the billionaire's many grandkids, said her grandfather always looked out for his grandchildren.

"Grandpa always told us that we work too hard and that we needed to rest more," Ms Buckeridge said.

Len Buckeridge. Picture: Neil Eliot

"Even he rested from time to time which may surprise some people.

"One of my most recent fond memories of grandpa is when he discovered I was walking home from uni when it was starting to get dark. Grandpa supplied me with a BGC fluoro safety vest, extra-large naturally and a flashing fluoro bag tag."

Mr McKusker described Mr Buckeridge as an "extraordinary West Australian."

Buckeridge legal advisor Michael Hodgkin at Len Buckeridge's memorial service held at the Cottesloe Civic Centre in Cottesloe.

"As one of his friends recently remarked with great affection: "He's always been an abrasive, aggressive, grumpy old bugger." That may be true, certainly he was always ready to fight for what he believed was right but there was a much more softer side to Len Buckeridge," Mr McKusker said.

"It's not widely known that he was an extremely generous man … that rough exterior hid a very kind heart.

"Our state and our community have been made very much the richer by Len's drive, personality and his work. And our state will be the poorer for the loss of this bold, generous, larger than life, multifaceted man."

Len Buckeridge's memorial service held at the Cottesloe Civic Centre in Cottesloe.

Mr Hodgkin, who acted as Mr Buckeridge's legal adviser for more than 20 years, recalled how the 77-year-old would berate him for turning up late to meetings even when he was early by saying: "You're late Mike, did you bring a note from your mum?"

"He always said that if ever I arrived at a meeting after him, however early I actually was," Mr Hodgkin said.

"It doesn't matter how great, or wealthy or famous and individual is, love is the most precious currency. That such a truth should be the product of such a relationship will be the treasure that I take from my adventure with Len Buckeridge to heaven."

Julian Buckeridge, one of the businessman's six children, said: "He was my dad but more important my best friend."

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Missing pilot’s ‘Aussie’ daughter

Claims have emerged saying Malaysia Airlines Pilot, Captain Zaharie was a follower of jailed Malaysian opposition leader.

THE daughter of the pilot, who flew the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, was living in Australia when it mysteriously vanished from radar screens.

Aishah Zaharie, who lives in Melbourne, has returned to her family in Malaysia as she awaits news of her father, Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah.

The 27-year-old, from Shah Alam, graduated from Deakin University in Geelong in 2010 where she studied architecture.

A Deakin University spokeswoman confirmed this, saying: "A Deakin student by that name graduated as a Master of Architecture in 2012 with an exemplary record from this university."

Her boyfriend Hazwan Anuar, also from her hometown in Malaysia, graduated from Deakin University in 2011 with a masters in the same field.

Ms Zaharie and her boyfriend both studied at the International Islamic University of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur before moving to Victoria.

DID FLIGHT MH370 FLY UNDER THE RADAR?

Aishah Zaharie and her father ... Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah. Picture: Instagram Source: Instagram

This comes US intelligence efforts focus on her father and police confiscated the elaborate flight simulator that he had built in his home.

Zaharie, 53, had previously posted photos online of the simulator, which was made with three large computer monitors and other accessories.

A friend of Ms Zaharie, who did not want to be named, said speculation about her dad was "killing the family".

"On what the international media wrote about Captain Zaharie is not true (and) ridiculous. He's a nice man and loving father to his children," she said.

"What has been reported in the news by the international media ...very frustrating.

"They (are) waiting to blame the pilot. Speculation like this is killing the family."

Meanwhile Ms Zaharie has been inundated with support from her wide social network both in Australia and her home country.

Malaysian Track Sprint Cyclist Azizulhasni Awang, one of Malaysia's most successful athletes, urged his almost 39,000 Twitter followers to "pray pray pray and keep praying".

"Captain Zaharie is our friend's daddy. (our Melbourne's buddy).Our heart sank upon hearing the appalling news abt #MH370 .Thoughts n prayers goes out to the passengers on board also to their families. Keep strong and sabr."

Aishah Zaharie ... who is based in Australia. She is pictured here at the Opera House in Sydney. Picture: Supplied Source: Facebook

Awang's wife Tya Boo ‏@tyailyana tweeted: "Pray for MH370 ...indeed so sad the pilot is my friend's daddy. Hope Aishah and family bersabar and banyak (patience and a lot of)."

Nazmi Nazman posted to Facebook on March 9: "Stay strong Aishah Zaharie, aunty Faizah Khanum Mustafa Khan and family. Our prayer goes to your dad and everyone on board."

Za'in Nur Naim had posted on March 8: "Be strong … Aishah Zaharie. Our prayers are always with you and family."

And Amirah Hanan wrote: "Stay strong my dear friend Aishah Zaharie...please please please stay strong...we all know your dad is a good pilot."

As support pages spring up on Facebook for Captain Shah, his personal Facebook page was suddenly removed today.

While the search for MH370 enters its tenth day and police scrutinise the pilot, his family has posted a moving YouTube tribute to the man they love.

Set to music the three minute video features a series of family photographs of Capt Zaharie Ahmad Shah and call it a "tribute to a man well-loved by many. The guy we all call Ari, Uncle Ari and Tok Manu Ari."

As "Somewhere over the rainbow" plays, writing appears on the screen, saying the video is a brief insight into his family life. It begins with his journey as a young pilot three decades ago.

As a young girl ... Aishah Zaharie with her father Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah. Source: YouTube

The video clip describes Capt Shah as "loving, reflective, generous, cool, sporting, intelligent, supportive, the list goes on and on …"

There are photos of him with his remote control planes and helicopters and with what appear to be his children and grandchildren.

The tribute comes as investigators continue to scrutinise the background or motives of Capt Shah, his co-pilot on the night Fariq Abdul Hamid and are running checks on all engineers and ground crew who had anything to do with the Boeing 777-200 before it took off in the early hours of March 8.

In the YouTube tribute, the family calls for him to "please come home, we miss you".

"Uncle Ari we patiently and anxiously await your safe return along with the rest of your crew members and passengers. Insyaallah."

It has also been reported that the co-pilot Hamid was engaged to marry an Air Asia pilot who is the daughter of a fellow Malaysian Airlines pilot.

Police have searched the homes of both the pilot and co-pilot.

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Sex monster released from jail by WA judge

A Supreme Court judge has released one of WA's worst sex offenders, stating: "Great care needs to be taken to ensure that another woman is not the subject of such an attack''. <b>File picture</b> Source: News Limited

A SEXUAL sadist with a history of horrific assaults on women dating back to when he was 15 has been released from jail by a Supreme Court judge in Perth.

The inmate, referred to as "TJD'' for legal reasons, has been released despite being classed as one of WA's worst sex offenders.

In a decision handed down last week, Commissioner Kevin Sleight revoked an indefinite detention order handed to "TJD'' in 2011, which came after attacks on 13 women, including seven times when he used a weapon or replica weapon to threaten his victim into submission.

"Great care needs to be taken to ensure that another woman is not the subject of such an attack, which is likely to have long-term and severe psychological consequences,'' Mr Sleight said.

However, Mr Sleight said he was satisfied "TJD'' could be released under a strict 10-year supervision order, which will include wearing a GPS tracking device.

He will have to abide to a night-time curfew, and is banned from unsupervised access to children.

"Although Mr TJD is a serious sex offender, the level of supervision, monitoring and treatment is such that the risk factors identified earlier ... are substantially controlled and minimised,'' Mr Sleight said.

The man's criminal history began in 1991 when he attacked three women in two days — culminating in a rape of a 17-year-old girl he threatened at gunpoint in a toilet block.

After three more attacks that year, ``TJD'' was sentenced in Perth Children's Court to three years detention.

Six weeks after being released, he committed indecent assaults, which led to more prison time.

In 2000, he raped a teenager a knifepoint after abducting her as she walked home from a train station.

And in 2003, he assaulted an 18-year-old woman in a Perth cemetery as she visited her grandmother's grave.

Having been jailed indefinitely in 2011, "TJD'' was released on a supervision order in 2012 — which he breached almost immediately.

He failed to take his anti-libidinal medication, failed to complete his psychological counselling and used cannabis, and was again jailed.

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Search for MH370 heads to Perth

Family of missing Malaysian Airlines Captain Zaharie Shah from flight MH370 pay tribute to him. Courtesy: Chumguan Phoon/YouTube

In the shadows ... Malaysian children are silhouetted as they watch a Malaysia Airlines plane taxi on the runway at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Source: AFP

THE massive search for missing flight MH370 will today be expanded into areas of the the Southern Indian Ocean off Western Australia.

The initial search is planned to occur in daylight in the Southern Indian Ocean west of Perth, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said.

An Australian Defence Force aircraft is being relocated from the Cocos Islands to Perth for the operation and will operate out of Royal Australian Air Force Base Pearce, near Perth.

Australia already had two AP-3C Orion aircraft search, one of them looking north and west of the remote Cocos Islands.

AMSA and the ADF will look into the possibility of adding more aircraft capable of operating at long distances to the search.

"Australia will do its duty in this matter," Prime Minister Tony Abbott told parliament yesterday. "We will do our duty to the families of the 230 people on that aircraft who are still absolutely devastated by their absence, and who are still profoundly, profoundly saddened by this as yet unfathomed mystery."

On the hunt ... Australian Orion aircraft have already been involved in the search. Source: News Corp Australia

CO-PILOT SPOKE MH370'S LAST WORDS

The last words from MH370 to air traffic control — "all right good night" were spoken by the missing jetliner's co-pilot.

Authorities in Kuala Lumpur revealed that the words, said to Malaysian air traffic control at 1.19am on March 8, were those of 27-year-old Fariq Abdul Hamid.

Until now it was not known who last spoke on the airwaves. Those words came after one of the plane's communications system was shut down.

Authorities also revealed that after the missing Boeing 777-200's last communication with a satellite, at 8.11am, that it had only about 30 minutes worth of fuel left.

However, that satellite ping cannot be narrowed down to anything smaller than a massive area covering 11 countries in two different corridors stretching from the Caspian Sea to the southern Indian Ocean.

Signing off ... co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid (right) spoke is believed to have spoken the last words to authorities on the ground. Picture: A Current Affair. Source: Supplied

At a press conference in Kuala Lumpur authorities revealed more details about the massive search for MH370, which has now been missing for 10 days.

Australia is now leading a section of the search in the southern corridor of the Indian Ocean using PC Orions and a Hercules C130.

Malaysian Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said investigations had revealed that it was the co-pilot's voice which spoke the last words before the plane vanished.

"The initial investigation indicates it was the co-pilot who basically spoke the last time, it was recorded on tape," Mr Yahya said.

Twelve minutes before the co-pilot's last words were spoken the ACARS, or aircraft reporting system, made its last automatic transmission at 1.07am. Authorities say they are not sure exactly when it was turned off as it only transmitted every minutes.

Expansive search ... Malaysia's acting Transport Minister Hishamuddin Hussein shows maps of northern search corridor. Source: AP

Until now much of the focus had been on the pilot, Zaharie Ahamd Shah. Police visited the pilot and co-pilot's homes the day after the plane disappeared and again on the weekend, when they seized a homemade flight simulator from Capt Shah's home. Police are still analysing it and said yesterday there was nothing to reveal yet.

Asked if authorities were looking into the possibility of pilot or co-pilot suicide, Defence Minister Hussein would say only the answer is "yes".

Ten days after MH370 went missing midway between Malaysia and Vietnam there was no evidence whatsoever that any of the 239 passengers and crew on board had tried to use their mobile telephones to make calls or send text messages.

"So far we have not had any evidence from any telephone company of any member trying to contact but …. We are still checking. There are millions of records they have to process," Mr Hussein said.

He said this was a part of the massive multinational investigation that was still being done.

And he expressed that despite the silence from the plane and the fact that nothing has been found so far, there was always hope.

"The fact there are no distress signals, there are no ransom, there are no parties screaming to be responsible, there is always hope," Mr Hussein said.

And he revealed that only hours earlier he had asked Chinese intelligence agencies to re-intensify their checks of everyone on their passenger list.

The world awaits answers ... a performer poses in front of messages expressing prayers and well-wishes for passengers on board missing flight MH370. Source: AFP

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Perth man paying killer $50 a month

Peter Littlejohn worked alongside Brett Cowan the Daniel Morcombe killer he is paying $50 a month in restitution to Cowan for an assault Source: News Corp Australia

Fingers are being pointed over why a serial and violent child rapist like Brett Cowan was ever released from jail.

A MAN who decked convicted child killer Brett Peter Cowan over a workplace dispute is still paying compensation to the serial paedophile — but he's glad he bashed him.

Peter Littlejohn was working with at a tree lopping Cowan in Perth in 2010, where the murderer had fled after murdering Daniel Morcombe on the Queensland Sunshine Coast in 2003.

Mr Littlejohn said that Cowan was a bully who picked on other employees including his brother in law, so one day he confronted him at the caravan park when he was living.

"I'd had enough of his stuff. I went around to confront him and he called me a dickhead and before I knew it, I just punched him," Mr Littlejohn said.

While Cowan may have been able to overpower little boys, but when he picked on someone his own size, it was a different story, Mr Littlejohn said.

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So who is running our State?

Premier Colin Barnett has had to deal with an increasing vaccuum at the top of WA's public service. Source: News Corp Australia

THE vacuum at the top of WA's public service is now crippling almost every arm of the State Government.

More than a dozen vital departments and commissions are without a permanent boss – affecting areas ranging from the state's finances to health, planning and the arts.

Unions and the Opposition are warning that the "extraordinary" number of senior vacancies is compromising future planning and has left many of the state's 150,000 public servants without direction.

The Barnett Government is searching for six directors-general, three commissioners, a chief scientist and an under-treasurer.

Two other senior jobs – heads of the Department of Child Protection and Family Support and the Corruption and Crime Commission – will also be vacant soon.

There could hardly be a worse time for all this, with the Barnett Government still reeling from the resignation of Troy Buswell as treasurer.

The role of Health Department boss, which comes with a $600,000 a year salary, has been vacant since Kim Snowball stepped down a year ago.

Premier Colin Barnett put the search for his replacement on hold last year, after a $122,000 recruitment drive proved fruitless.

Australian Medical Association WA president Richard Choong said that while acting director-general Bryant Stokes was doing a great job, the Government needed to find a full-time replacement urgently.

"The position is one of the most important in our state public service," Dr Choong said.

"It is vital that the very best person be found for this key role and that they be ready to seamlessly take over the reins from Professor Stokes.''

Opposition Leader Mark McGowan said the lack of permanent senior bureaucrats proved there was dysfunction "at the heart of Government''.

"It shows a lackadaisical attitude towards these important positions, because I think they need to be filled with urgency,'' he said.

This week, Mr Barnett was pressed in Parliament about the vacant position of chief scientist. He said he purposely left a "period of time" between appoint­ments.

But Mr McGowan said many of the vacant positions have been empty for months and in some cases years.

"To have firmness of direction and authority in decision- making you need to have a permanent appointee," he said. "Acting appointees don't have that authority.''

Mr McGowan said he would expect the recruitment process for the senior bureaucrats would take about three months.

Community and Public Sector Union/Civil Services Association WA secretary Toni Walkington said the public deserved to know why there were delays in filling jobs.

"They are all critical positions that must be filled to ensure the government agencies run properly and have direction,'' she said.

Ms Walkington said the Children's, Equal Opportunity and Corruption and Crime commissions needed permanent people in place to maintain their independence.

A spokeswoman for Mr Barnett said there was "nothing exceptional'' about the number of chief executive vacancies and app­ointments in several positions would be announced soon. "The Government is satisfied the vacancies aren't having an impact on public sector operations," she said.

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How I escaped Morcombe’s killer

FRIGHTENED: Melissa Bridges recalls her encounter with Brett Cowan. <b>Picture: ADAM HEAD</b> Source: News Corp Australia

CONVICTED murderer Brett Peter Cowan tried to rape a ­fellow church member before a social event in May 1998.

Melissa Bridges, 31, claims Cowan — who on Friday was jailed for murdering Queensland teenager Daniel Morcombe — grabbed her breasts and kissed her after he stepped from a shower covered only by a towel.

Decades before the disappearance of schoolboy Daniel Morcombe, his killer, Brett Peter Cowan was abducting and molesting children.

She said she was 15 at the time of the attack.

Mrs Bridges, who was unaware of Cowan's evil past until his highly publicised ­arrest in 2011, said she met him in the mid-1990s when he moved to the Sunshine Coast after a four-year prison term in Darwin.

Cowan's aunt and uncle had brought him into the church fold in the hope of aiding his rehabilitation.

Cowan, now 44, had arranged to pick up Mrs Bridges (then named Melissa Holman) on the way to a street-ministry soup kitchen and was to pick up another, older church member en route.

"But he turned up in a van, dressed in overalls and covered in paint, which I thought was a bit strange," Mrs Bridges recalled.

Murder victim Daniel Morcombe. Picture: Supplied Source: News Limited

"He said he had to go home first and have a shower, so drove me straight to his place ... in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by cane fields."

Mrs Bridges said when Cowan came out of the shower dressed only in a towel and reeking of cologne he lunged at her, pushed her against a computer table, kissed her, grabbed her breasts and clawed at her clothes, according to Mrs Bridges.

The frightened teen managed to raise her knee high enough to push Cowan off and darted through a door.

She called a school friend to come and collect her, she said.

Cowan was separately accused of abusing a young girl for several years and raping a 14-year-old girl he knew.

Boys, girls, teenagers, men, women. Cowan was driven by urges that defied age or gender.

And despite being jailed twice for random, brutal sex attacks on young boys, he appears to have roamed free afterwards with the barest of supervision.

When I fled an evil sex predator. Source: Supplied

Cowan revelled in his perversion, adopting the online username akin to "sexual deviant", in one of several profiles on dating and meet-up websites.

On gay dating website Gaydar, Cowan had three profiles, including one he was using from Perth just before his arrest.

The Sunday Mail discovered the profile, using a variation of his new name Shaddo N'unyah Hunter, remained open during his trial for the abduction and murder of Queensland teenager Daniel Morcombe 13-year-old Sunshine Coast schoolboy Daniel Morcombe in 2003.

Cowan sought out a long list of extreme sex acts and said he was open to meeting anyone up to the age of around mid-50s.

A former girlfriend told police she was once working on her computer and looked up to see Cowan having sex with a male friend he'd brought to their home.

Girlfriends separately told police Cowan commonly viewed online extreme pornography, including bestiality.

He subjected his girlfriends to brutal acts of sexual violence and forced them to role-play rape and kidnap scenarios. And he is said to have told friends he enjoyed inflicting pain.

At functions with family and friends, he secretly offered young boys money to perform sex acts on him.

LANGUAGE WARNING: See the interview in which police allege Cowan confessed to the murder of Daniel Morcombe.

Meanwhile, Cowan's defence team has revealed he will appeal against his convictions, his defence team has revealed.

He was found guilty on Thursday of murder, indecently dealing with a child and inter­fering with a corpse. He was sentenced on Friday to life in prison with a non-parole ­period of 20 years.

Bosscher Lawyers solicitor Tim Meehan said his client had instructed him to appeal against the convictions.

"We are going to seek advice from a Queen's Counsel as to all the grounds that need to be included," Mr Meehan said.

"We are fairly settled in what the appeal will contain and the basis of the appeal, but we only have one opportunity to do this so we will do it ­properly."

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‘New leads’ expand MH370 hunt

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak says the movements of a missing plane were consistent with a deliberate act by someone who turned the jet back across Malaysia and onwards to the west. Sarah Toms reports.

• Search expands to 25 countries with new leads
• Captain was 'obsessive' supporter of Anwar Ibrahim
• Zaharie Shah's flight simulator at home seized
• Co-pilot also under fresh scrutiny

THE search for Flight MH370 is expanding after officials obtained new leads from their investigation into the missing plane.

Malaysia's Defence and Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said information released yesterday "has provided new leads, and given new direction to the search process".

At a press conference, he confirmed officers from the Royal Malaysia Police visited the home of Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah.

They spoke to family members of the pilot and experts are examining the pilot's home-made flight simulator. They have dismantled and re-assembled it at another location.

Police raid Captain's private home for clues

The police said they also visited the home of the co-pilot, Fariq Ab Hamid.

"According to Malaysian Airlines, the pilot and co-pilot did not ask to fly together on MH370," he said.

New reports say investigators had already spent much of last week examining two laptops removed from Shah's home. One is believed to contain data from the simulator.

He also confirmed Prime Minister Najib Razak had contacted the leaders of more countries, asking them to become involved as the search "entered a new phase".

The search will now include 25 countries, a significant jump from the initial number of 14.

He said the search had become "more difficult", and had been expanded to include "large chunks of land, deep and remote oceans".

Mr Hussein confirmed they had contacted countries along the northern and southern corridors of the search about MH370.

The flight simulator seized ... from the private home of Malaysia Airlines pilot Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah. Source: Facebook

These countries include: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, China, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia and France. Officials are requesting assistance from these countries.

"We are asking countries that have satellite assets, including the US, China and France amongst others, to provide further satellite data," he said.

"And we are contacting additional countries who may be able to contribute specific assets relevant to the search and rescue operation. Surveillance aircraft are required, and maritime vessels are needed, particularly for the southern corridor.

"We are currently discussing with all partners how best to deploy assets along the two search corridors. At this stage, both the northern and southern corridors are being treated with equal importance."

Malaysian Police Chief Khalid Abu Bakar also added that background checks on the entire passenger manifest was not complete yet.

"We have not yet received background checks on all passengers from all countries on flight," he said.

When asked if there was anything suspicious in the plane's cargo manifest, officials said there was nothing hazardous.

The latest developments in the investigation come as FBI investigators also said the disappearance of MH370 may have been "an act of piracy" and that the possibility that its hundreds of passengers are being held at an unknown location has not been ruled out.

AL-QAEDA PROBE AFTER LINK TO MALAYSIAN TERROR PLOT

As police probe how Flight MH370 was possibly hijacked, British media are speculating the plane's disappearance could also be linked to al-Qaeda.

A plot created by Malaysian Islamists to hijack the Malaysia Airlines plane in a 9/11-style attack is being investigated, The UK's Daily Telegraph reports.

Malaysian terror plot claims ... made by al-Qaeda informant Saajid Badat. Source: AP

It comes after al-Qaeda informant Saajid Badat, a British-born Muslim from Gloucester, told a court that a group of Malaysian men had been planning to take control of a plane, using a bomb hidden in a shoe to blow open the cockpit door.

Security experts said his evidence was "credible".

Badat said that he had met the Malaysian jihadists – one of whom was a pilot – in Afghanistan and given them a shoe bomb to use to take control of an aircraft.

In giving evidence at the trial in New York of Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, Osama bin Laden's son-in-law, Badat said: "I gave one of my shoes to the Malaysians. I think it was to access the cockpit."

Badat, who spoke via video link, said the Malaysian plot was being masterminded by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was behind the 9/11 attack in the US in 2001.

The alleged links to al-Qaeda come as Prime Minister Razak said the Royal Malaysia Police are investigating all crew and passengers on board MH370, as well as engineers who may have had contact with the aircraft before take-off.

The latest information about the search comes after India suspended its search for the plane around the remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands and in the Bay of Bengal until they got fresh instructions.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that two RAAF aircraft helping search for the missing Malaysian airliner will also shift their focus to the Indian Ocean.

Mr Abbott also said that Australia is also prepared to provide any more assistance the Malaysian government might seek.

''If the Malaysians want additional help, we certainly stand ready to supply it,'' he said.

Mr Abbott added there was strong security at Australian airports.

''I am certainly very satisfied with the security arrangements we currently have."

FLIGHT MH370 CAPTAIN AND CO-PILOTS INVESTIGATED

Meanwhile, the pilot and co-pilot of missing Flight MH370 are being newly investigated after Malaysia's Prime Minister confirmed "deliberate actions" are behind the plane's disappearance.

The US intelligence community is leaning towards the theory that "those in the cockpit" - pilot Captain Zaharie Shah and his co-pilot Fariq Abdul - were deliberately responsible for whatever happened to the plane, a US official told CNN.

FAMILIES CLING TO HIJACK THEORY

PILOT SUICIDE MOST LIKELY, EXPERTS SAY

According to British media reports, police are investigating the possibility that Captain Shah hijacked his own aircraft in a political protest.

The pilot was a political fanatic and "obsessive" supporter of Malaysia's opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, The Mail on Sunday says.

Looking for clues ... police have searched the home of pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah. Source: Facebook

Hours before Flight MH370 left Kuala Lumpur, the pilot is said to have attended a controversial trial in which Ibrahim - who has been harassed and jailed on successive charges of homosexuality and sodomy - was jailed for five years.

Police sources say Captain Shah was a political activist and fear that the court decision left him profoundly upset.

Whoever took control of the plane and deliberately flew it off course had an extensive knowledge of aircraft systems – and in all likelihood no one on board had as much expertise as Captain Shah.

A self-declared "aviation geek", Captain Shah, 53, even had his own flight simulator at home and flew remote-controlled planes as a hobby.

The record and personal life of 27-year-old co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid have already come under scrutiny after it was revealed he invited a Melbourne tourist and her friend into the cockpit on a previous international flight.

Co-pilot ... Fariq Abdul Hamid is under investigation. Source: Supplied

In a worrying lapse of security, Fariq smoked, took photos and entertained passengers Jonti Roos and Jaan Maree in the cabin on a one-hour flight from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur.

The son of a high-ranking official in the public works department of a Malaysian state, Fariq joined Malaysia Airlines when he was 20.

He is a mild-mannered "good boy'' who regularly visited his neighbourhood mosque outside Kuala Lumpur, said the mosque's imam, or spiritual leader.

The far more seasoned Zaharie joined MAS in 1981 and had logged 18,365 hours of flying time.

Malaysian media reports quoted colleagues calling Zaharie a "superb pilot'', who also served as an examiner, authorised by the Malaysian Civil Aviation Department, to conduct simulator tests for pilots.

Revelation ... Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, centre says investigators believe the missing Malaysian airliner's communications were deliberately disabled. Source: AP

MALAYSIA'S PM CONFIRMS 'DELIBERATE INTERVENTION'

Prime Minister Najib Razak last night made the startling revelation that the last communication with the Malaysia Airlines flight was at 8.11am last Saturday - seven hours later than originally thought. At that point, the plane may have run out of fuel, he said.

The transponder of MH370 was switched off around the time analysts said it would have reached its cruising altitude, when pilots often emerge to take a bathroom or coffee break.

Luxury residence ... journalists outside the house of missing Malaysia Airlines pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah. Source: AP

Satellite and radar data clearly showed the plane's communications systems were disabled one after another, and it changed course away from its intended path and flew on for hours, he said.

"These movements are consistent with deliberate action by someone on the plane," he said.

Paul Yap, an aviation lecturer at Temasek Polytechnic in Singapore, said in his view there were "only a few scenarios'' likely to explain what happened if a hijacking occurred.

"First the people involved in the deliberate actions are the pilots, one of them or both of them in cahoots.

"Then we have a scenario where terrorists make the pilots change course and switch off the transponders under duress, maybe threatening to kill passengers,'' Yap said.

Authorities have widened the search - and are now hunting for the plane in two separate corridors, including one in the Indian Ocean off the Western Australian coast.

Perth wife tells: I ran out into yard screaming

The missing faces of MH370

Mr Najib said the plane's precise location remained unclear but had been narrowed down to two areas - a northern corridor stretching approximately from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkestan into northern Thailand and a southern corridor stretching approximately from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean, including off the WA.

However, authorities stopped short of saying the plane was hijacked.

"Despite media reports that the plane was hijacked I wish to be very clear we are still investigating all possibilities as to what caused MH370 to deviate from its original flight path," Mr Najib said.

Searching for answers ... a Chinese relative of a passenger on board the missing plane at a press conference at a hotel in Beijing. Source: AP

PUBLIC BACKLASH AS OFFICIALS WITHOLD INFORMATION

Chinese relatives of missing passengers reacted in anger to confirmation that the plane had flown on for seven hours after communication systems were switched off.

And China slammed Malaysia for taking seven days to make the information public, ratcheted up its criticism in news commentary saying either a "dereliction of duty or reluctance to share information" was to blame.

Malaysia Airlines said it had not gone public with information that the plane continued to fly for hours after last contact because it needed time to confirm the satellite data.

Meanwhile, claims that a 35-year-old Uighur man from China's troubled autonomous Muslim province was on Flight MH370 may be looked at in a new light. The group claimed responsibility earlier this week but were dismissed as opportunitistic and not credible, but Malaysian reports now say the passenger had taken flight-simulator training in 2005.

More confusion as a woman writes on a board of messages dedicated to the plane's passengers and crew. Source: AP

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Murdered mum predicted own death

Selina Bello with her son. Picture: Channel 9 Source: Supplied

COMO hairdresser Angela Ferullo had a premonition that her ex-husband would end her life, telling her daughter: "He's going to kill me."

Selina Bello, the 24-year-old daughter Ms Ferullo died protecting along with her unborn grandchild, reveals this in speaking about the events that led to her 43-year-old mother's murder on June 24 last year.

Ms Bello was stabbed repeatedly in the att­ack and was told of her mother's death as she fought in hospital for her life and that of her unborn child.

"There were times when she did sort of say 'He's gonna kill me' or 'He's going to hurt me, Selina'," Ms Bello has told Channel 9's A Current Affair in her first in-depth interview.

Ms Bello, who worked as a hairdresser with her mother, was doing the hair of 67-year-old Peggy Kew when Ms Ferullo's ex-husband James Bill Payet walked in.

Selina Bello talks about the day her mother Angela Ferullo was murdered and she was stabbed at their Como hair salon. Picture: Channel 9

"I seen him out the corner of my eye as he walked past the window and my heart dropped because I just thought 'This isn't going to be good'," Ms Bello, who was five months pregnant at the time, said.

She tried to protect her mother, who was working in the back of the salon, by telling the knife-wielding Payet she did not know where she was. As Payet turned on her, Ms Ferullo ran in from the back of the salon and threw herself across her daughter. She was stabbed to death.

A Current Affair host Tracy Grimshaw said Ms Bello wanted to draw attention to the scourge of domestic violence. , who flew to Perth to interview Ms Bello, said she wanted to do the interview herself because it would help draw attention to the scourge of domestic violence in Australia. It will go to air tomorrow night.

"This is more than a story about a violent man and the tragic death of a WA woman," Grimshaw said.

Angela Ferullo, who was murdered in her Como hair salon in June 2013.

"It's a broader story of domestic abuse and domestic violence in this country. It happens behind closed doors most of the time."

Ms Bello hadn't seen the knives in Payet's hand when he walked into the salon.

"She knew that he was angry and posed a risk," Grimshaw said. "She knew he was going to hurt her mother so she said she didn't know where mum is.

"So he picked up Selina by her throat and threw her across the salon and then began attacking her. And her mother came out. It's a hell of an ordeal."

Ms Bello was stabbed five times, including in the stomach, and underwent emergency surgery.

Ms Kew, a grandmother of 10, was stabbed in the shoulder and chest as she tried to fight Payet off with a chair.

Almost nine months after the attack Ms Bello is now the mother of baby son Emilio and has returned to the salon.

Payet pleaded guilty in February to the murder of Ms Ferullo and other charges.

He is due to be sentenced in the Supreme Court in Perth in May.

● See the full interview on A Current Affair with Tracy Grimshaw on Channel 9 at 7pm tomorrow (Monday).

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Nurse to Hames: Cuts risking lives

A nurse has written a heartfelt letter to Health Minister Kim Hames about the effect of budget cuts at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. Picture: File image Source: News Limited

A NURSE has revealed in a heartfelt letter to Health Minister Kim Hames how budget cuts at one of WA's biggest hospitals are putting lives at risk and raising "ethical" concerns among staff.

The two-page letter, obtained by The Sunday Times, warns some of the state's most vulnerable patients are in the gravest danger.

The nurse tells Dr Hames one of Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital's most acute wards – responsible for patients with dementia, delirium and eating disorders – has been up to two nurses short for months.

It has also been forced to cut back on the use of agency nurses, who normally help cover gaps left by full-time staff. At the same time, the ward has taken on four extra beds.

"I do recognise that there was no easy way to deal with the budget cuts to the hospital, however, what concerns me, and the staff of (the ward), much more than this, is how it will affect the patients on the ward," the letter says.

"Since December 2013 the staff of (the ward) have been instructed to effect changes which resulted in (the ward) being deprived of assistants in nursing.

"This reform has been applied to several wards across SCGH."

The author goes on to say staff are no longer allowed to call in casual staff to look after patients requiring one-on-one care.

"Anorexic patients on the ward are there for extended periods of time (1-3 months) and during this time require a 1:1 Nurse Special (NS)," it says.

"Taking away the 1:1 NS has proved detrimental to their health due to the inability to prevent self-harm."

A plan to strip 250 full-time jobs from the hospital was uncovered by The Sunday Times in October.

Two weeks ago this newspaper also revealed at least 48 of the hospital's 615 beds would be cut.

Speaking to The Sunday Times this week, the nurse said she wrote the letter because she feared patients would die.

"I care about my patients and I cannot tolerate seeing them suffer," she said.

"I don't think the people of Perth actually realise what's going on and what might happen to their families when they come into SCGH."

Opposition Health Spokesman Roger Cook said the letter provided a clear insight into "how damaging" the cuts were to WA hospitals.

"It is clear that the Barnett Government and their dysfunctional decisions in health are putting patient safety at risk," he said.

"Staff are being asked to do more and more with less and less and the Barnett Government's cuts to healthcare are driving staff to the brink."

Health Minister Kim Hames said changes at the particular ward referred to by the nurse were not related to the decision to cut 250 full-time jobs.

"They relate to a decision to realign beds to better match inpatient bed demand and improve timely patient access to inpatient wards from the emergency department through this realignment," Dr Hames said.

"Realignment of beds to better match inpatient bed demand aims to responsibly deliver high quality health care within staffing levels consistent with those utilised by similar hospitals.

"Staffing of the ward is in line with other Perth hospitals with a similar patient mix as the staffing is guided by the Nursing Hours per Patient Day targets."

Australian Nursing Federation WA state secretary Mark Olson said the Government could not keep ripping money and resources from the health system without "potentially deadly consequences."

"We call on the minister to act on this desperate plea from frontline workers for more staff, because they know what West Australians need when they are at their most vulnerable, not the bureaucrats who are trying to save money before the budget, seemingly without regard for patient safety," he said.

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