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Skype’s the limit for WA inmates

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 14 Juni 2014 | 21.52

Corrective Services Minister Joe Francis is looking to Skype video calls to reduce the number of prisoner visits. Source: News Limited

SKYPE video calls might replace hundreds of inter-prison visits each year, saving taxpayers a fortune in future.

The practice of allowing Perth-based prisoners to visit friends and family members incarcerated in other metropolitan jails is under review.

Corrective Services Minister Joe Francis said there was "a real opportunity to reduce prisoner movement costs" as part of the review, being conducted by his department.

"The department is increasing access to video conferencing, such as Skype, to allow prisoners to have contact with family members in other prisons without the need for them to be moved," Mr Francis said.

The number of inter-prison visits increased from 471 in 2011-12 to 521 in 2012-13. In the last half of 2013 there were 307 such trips. But "non-essential prisoner movements" were stopped after the embarrassing escape of notorious rapist Cameron John Graham at Geraldton Airport on January 3, and only 88 inter-prison visits have occurred since.

Cameron John Graham, 22, who escaped from a prison van in Geraldton. Source: Supplied

WA's Homicide Victims Support Group convener Ellen Rowe, whose husband Bill was bashed to death with a cricket bat on a Geraldton beach in 2007, said she had been unaware of the jail-to-jail visits and questioned why they occurred at all.

"Inter-prison visits are disrespectful to victims in that more effort and resources seem to be directed into solidifying family/social ties of offenders, whereas victims often become isolated from families and friends due to lack of services and support in dealing with trauma as a result of crime," she said.

"Victims of serious interpersonal crime feel continually let down by inadequate recognition and funds to resource much-needed specialist support services.

"Inter-prison visits normalise the situation of criminality within the offender's immediate circle of family and friends, and it could be argued that it facilitates continuation of some criminal associations where those persons would be better off kept separated. Every prisoner transport poses a risk of escape, an experience that is ... very traumatic for victims."

Under the Prisons Act 1981 "a prisoner may be permitted by the designated Superintendent to receive visits from a friend or relation who is confined in another prison".

If prisoners are declined permission they can appeal to the State Ombudsman. The Ombudsman's office would not reveal how many appeals had been considered or upheld. In promotional material, it states it has assisted inmates denied inter-prison visits.

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Doctor fury over chemists’ jab plan

Would you be happy getting an injection in a pharmacy instead of a doctor's? Source: News Limited

WA pharmacists are moving to vaccinate customers under a plan the top doctors group warns would have people immunised next to "jelly beans and sanitary pads".

The Pharmacy Guild of WA has asked Curtin University to make vaccination training part of its undergraduate pharmacy course.

It follows the start of a two-year pharmacy immunisation trial in Queensland and comes amid a national turf war over who should be able to administer the jabs.

Pharmacy Guild of WA branch committee member Paul Rees said the body had held early discussions with the university about launching an accredited training program.

He said a "lack of convenience" was one of the main barriers to immunisation and chemists were well-placed to help improve vaccination rates in WA.

Latest figures show WA has the lowest vaccination rate in the country for children aged 2-5.

Curtin University School of Pharmacy associate professor Lynne Emmerton confirmed the plan was being considered.

"Curtin University has been contacted by the Pharmacy Guild of WA regarding the possible introduction of a program to train pharmacists to administer vaccinations," she said.

Prof Emmerton said no formal agreement had yet been made.

The Australian Medical Association is vehemently opposed to in-pharmacy vaccinations.

"The income of pharmacists is under threat in many ways and they're looking for different ways to do things, but the AMA is concerned this is just not the right location to do it," WA state president Michael Gannon said.

Dr Gannon said a pharmacy shop front was "not a suitable place" for vaccination and pharmacists lacked appropriate training to deal with any adverse reactions.

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Speaker’s $26,000 hospitality bill

WA Parliament Speaker Michael Sutherland. Source: News Limited

WA Parliament's big-spending Speaker, Michael Sutherland, has racked up nearly $26,000 in taxpayer-funded dining costs since he took over the job just over a year ago.

Parliamentary documents show the Liberal MP is spending nearly $500 a week dining other politicians, parliamentary staff and community groups.

Mr Sutherland held 21 morning teas, nine afternoon teas, 23 standard working lunches and nine receptions from April 15 last year to May 21 this year at a cost of $25,857.

Examples of his entertainment costs include:

A $500 LUNCH for his former colleagues from the City of Perth.

THREE CHRISTMAS lunches totalling $3626 for Acting Speakers, Former Speakers and for Legislative Assembly staff.

TWO RECEPTIONS for "discussion with members" totalling $1076.

$1267 for a "Jewish Community/Montgomery Bible Presentation".

On one October day Mr Sutherland had morning tea with the Church of Latter-Day Saints costing $150 and then another morning tea with his political colleagues costing $33.50. He then had a $74.80 lunch with the "Australasian Safari Group and members".

Mr Sutherland landed the plum $246,000-a-year Speaker's job last April ahead of former police minister Rob Johnson.

He was criticised for organising taxpayer-paid trips for himself and MPs to Japan and South Korea and again for spending $27,000 on new furniture for his office.

He defended the overseas trips at the time as a "longstanding bipartisan practice" of the Speaker.

Martin Drum, a senior lecturer in politics and international relations at Notre Dame University, said Mr Sutherland's spending was not a "good look".

"We accept that you have to spend money on dignitaries, but it has to been in keeping with the overall state of the state's finances," he said. "I think he has to be mindful of the expenses given the loss of the AAA credit rating."

Mr Sutherland is spending more than former Nationals Speaker Grant Woodhams, who retired at the last election.

Parliamentary figures show that in 2009-10, Mr Woodhams spent $12,287.55. In 2010-11, he spent $16,543.30 and in 2011-12 he spent $20,417.65.

You have to go back to 2005-06, when former Labor Speaker Fred Riebeling spent $28,781.55, to find anyone who matched Mr Sutherland's spending.

Mr Sutherland yesterday defended the costs.

"Expenditure under my watch has been at or below the spending levels of a decade ago under a Labor Speaker," he told The Sunday Times.

"Taking into the account the inflationary effect over that time, this means that the current expenditure is lower in real terms than it was a decade ago."

He defended "extending hospitality" to other politicians "from time to time to discuss parliamentary matters".

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Family shock sets in over driveway death

Perth family devastated over death of toddler hit by mothers reversing car

Neighbour Navena Kotur Placing flowers and saying a prayer. Photo: Theo Fakos Source: News Corp Australia

ANDREEA Baliban crawled into bed with her parents on Friday morning. The Perth toddler wanted to cuddle, and told her mother: "I love you."

Hours later, this "little princess" with the cheeky smile and big brown eyes was gone.

The two-year-old had been behind mother Rebeca's car when she reversed it out of the driveway of their Holley Place home in Marangaroo.

Andreea was taken to Joondalup Health Campus but succumbed to critical head injuries soon after the accident.

"Our hearts are shattered and words cannot express what we are going through," Andreea's father Lucian said in a statement released late yesterday. "It'll never be the same again. We wait for the day when we will see our little princess again in heaven.

Andrea Baliban, 2, was struck by the car at the edge of the newly-paved driveway at the Holley Place home. Photo: Nine News Source: Channel 9

"We thank everyone whose hearts and thoughts are with us in this difficult time."

The tragedy has devastated the tight-knit community of the Romanian Pentecostal Church in Balga, which the Balibans attended.

Pastor Benjamin Fitui said Rebeca and Lucian were model parents and devoted to their three daughters.

He spent Friday grieving with them at the hospital, while the older two girls stayed with Lucian's family.

"All she said to me all day was 'It's my fault. I lost my daughter, my wonderful daughter'," Pastor Fitui said.

"She was saying, 'My baby, my baby, I did to you this thing, Mum didn't want to do this, Mum didn't want to do this'."

The family, including daughters Ruth, 7, and Lois, 5, were preparing to travel to Romania tomorrow to visit Rebeca's family. It would have been the first time Andreea had met her maternal grandparents.

Close family friend Emilia Lucaciu said Lucian was trying to support his shattered wife.

"No blame is going on," Mts Lucaciu said. "They are each just trying to help each other as much as they can. We are just in shock."

Andreea is the third WA child to die after being hit by a car reversing out of a driveway in six months. In March a 16-month-old girl was killed when she was hit by a reversing car in Bibra Lake, and in December a 14-month-old boy was killed when he was hit by a car in a drive in the Kimberley.


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Young daughter dies in driveway tragedy

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 13 Juni 2014 | 21.51

A two-year-old girl was run over and killed in Holley Place, Marangaroo. Picture: Stewart Allen. Source: News Limited

A PERTH couple have lost their two-year-old daughter after the toddler was hit by a car reversing from the driveway of their home.

Police confirmed this afternoon that the driver of the Peugeot Wagon was the girl's 31-year-old mother. The girl's two sisters were in the car at the time of the tragedy.

The toddler received serious head injuries when she was struck by the car at the end of the driveway of the Holley Place home in Marangaroo just after 10am.

It is understood the girl's sisters saw the accident and a family member tried to administer CPR.

The sisters are being cared for by relatives and their parents have been too distraught to be formally interviewed by police.

Police spokeswoman Ros Weatherall said the child was taken by ambulance to Joondalup Health Campus, but died as a result of the injuries she received.

The quiet street in the northern suburbs was blocked off while police investigated the tragedy.

"We urge anyone with young children to know where your kids are prior to getting into a vehicle,'' a senior policeman told media at the scene.

Neighbours have laid flowers outside the house.

Major Crash officers are continuing to investigate the death and have urged anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.


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How Baden-Clay girls helped police

A court has heard a woman's cry rang out in the Baden-Clays' Brisbane street the night Allison vanished.

The family of accused wife killer Gerard Baden-Clay has rallied around him on the first day of his trial.

THREE little girls facing a future without their mum helped police to unravel the final night they shared with her in video interviews played back to the jury yesterday.

Allison Baden-Clay's daughters, aged 10, eight and five, told police officers at the Surfers Paradise Police Station on June 27, 2012 all they remembered of their seemingly normal and happy childhood before April 20, 2012.

The eldest daughter told police the family brainstormed together to name the eight-seater Prado her father usually drove "Snowy" and silver Holden Captiva her mother often used, "Sparky".

When police searched Sparky after Ms Baden-Clay's disappearance, they photographed plastic containers filled with children's toys in the boot.

The photos were shown to the girls.

The eldest said the items were packed up to go to a charity and they had been stored downstairs near the garage door so someone could some and pick them up.

"They were put outside the garage door, just downstairs so that when she came to pick them up, she could," she said.

"I think they were just downstairs or something.'"

The girl said she did not remember the boxes being put into the back of Sparky.

She said the old toys and clothes were packed into the boxes after Easter.

The middle child said she had never seen the boxes in the back of Sparky before: "Only here."

The girls said they had never been very sick and did not need to take medication for serious illness, although their father had a shellfish allergy.

The eldest daughter said her mum would walk every morning, unless she had to be at work early, and would usually take her phone.

She said her mother always wore jumpers because she got cold easily, often wore grey tracksuit pants and white runners.

The middle daughter said her mum would usually wear a blue or pink singlet and black leggings when she walked, but later added ``sometimes she wears just her t-shirt and pants".

The 10-year-old said her mum usually wore relaxed pyjama pants and a top when she went to bed, while her dad wore an old top and boxer shorts.

She said her father was worried on the day her mum disappeared but was "trying to be confident".

She said her grandfather, who she called "Bwana" , came around to look after the three of them that morning, before they went to school.

Meanwhile, Gerard and Allison Baden-Clay's three daughters were asleep in the house the night their mum disappeared and didn't hear a sound.

In interviews conducted by detectives from Indooroopilly's Child Protection Investigation Unit, the girls, then aged 10, eight and five, told how their mum and dad had put them to bed around 7pm.

All three said they'd slept soundly until waking at 6.30am the following morning.

DAY 3: How the trial unfolded

ALLISON'S PAIN: Father-in-law tells

Neighbours have described hearing shouts, thuds and squealing tyres late at night.

"Can you remember hearing anything that night?'' a detective asked the eldest daughter in an interview conducted in June.

"No,'' she replied.

She said she hadn't heard any car noises.

The girl told the detective she last saw her dad going to the downstairs fridge to get milk.

She said she had gotten up to get a glass of water and her mum was lying on the couch watching television.

The middle child told a similar story.

Asked to think back to the night her mum went missing, the girl said she heard a TV on when she went to bed.

"Just voices,'' she said.

She thought her mum and dad were watching TV "because they usually do''.

She said she hadn't heard any sounds of cars starting or car doors opening or any fighting.

The girl said she didn't know if her dad and mum had ever argued.

A court has heard Gerard Baden-Clay's father was about to leave his son's Brookfield house with a vacuum cleaner when police stopped him on the morning Allison vanished.

Nigel Baden-Clay yesterday told court of asking his son if there was anything he could do to help while he was busy talking to police about his missing wife.

His son, who was then a real estate agent, said a friend's house was on the market and he'd promised to vacuum the floors and water the lawns.

"It was Friday and traditionally on Saturday real estate gets very busy with open houses,'' Mr Baden-Clay said.

"He said `the vacuum is in the car and so is a hose pipe, so if you'd like to just go and get them out of my Prado, if you could go and do that it would be a great help'.

"I took the vacuum cleaner and the hose pipe and put them in the boot of my car.

"I was about to leave and go and do these little jobs and the police Constable asked me to stay where I was and not to take the car.''

Mr Baden-Clay, who said left the house at about 9am, was questioned by prosecutor Todd Fuller QC about whether he saw Allison's parents Priscilla and Geoff Dickie that morning.

"I don't recall seeing them at the house,'' he said.

Asked if he'd talked to his son about contacting Allison's parents that morning, he said: ``I don't recall. I'm sorry.''

He told court he helped his son open a real estate business a decade ago, but since retiring in 2009 he merely helped put up signs on open houses. He was unaware his son's business was in trouble.

Meanwhile, neighbours have told of hearing screams or the sound of a woman calling out in the darkness at Brookfield on the night Allison Baden-Clay disappeared.

On day three of Gerard Baden-Clay's murder trial in the Supreme Court in Brisbane, a jury heard evidence from seven witnesses who claimed they were woken or startled by strange noises on Thursday, April 19, 2012.

The former Brookfield real estate agent, 43, has pleaded not guilty to his wife's murder.

Neighbour Kim Tzvetkoff, who lived opposite the Baden-Clay home on the corner of Boscombe Rd, said he was in the kitchen with his wife Julie when he heard a "startled, cut-short exclamation" between 7.30pm and 9pm.

"It didn't last very long at all, it was an abrupt, cut-short type of thing," he said.

"I believe it was a female voice and, like I say, startled, I can't really put it into any better words.''

He said he said to his wife: "What was that?"

"We stood for a second or two and then we continued what we were doing," he said.

Mrs Tzvetkoff said the noise was a "sharp or urgent yell out" that lasted a few seconds. "I believe it came from the area of the Badens' house," she said.

Sue Braun, who lived near the tennis courts on Brookfield Rd, said she was woken by "a loud human noise" calling out from the direction of the Baden-Clay residence at 11.30pm.

"I was sound asleep and I heard a loud human noise that was calling out, I don't know what the words were," she said.

"It woke me up with a fright and I just lay there to see if I could hear anything else and if it would continue and it didn't, and I fell back to sleep."

What the neighbours heard on the night Allison Baden-Clay went missing. Source: CourierMail

Another Brookfield resident, Anne Marie Rhodes, said she heard an argument followed by a woman's scream at 10pm. Roughly 30 minutes later she said she heard a "loud, dull thud" and screeching tyres. Ms Rhodes said the fighting came from the direction of Brookfield Rd, near the day care centre. "I just heard an argument, I couldn't make out what was being said," she said. The thud she heard later sounded like "a sack of horse feed falling on to concrete" and the screeching tyres made her think a car had run off the road, she said.

In cross-examination by barrister Michael Byrne QC, for Baden-Clay, she agreed she gave two statements to police, one on May 30 and the second on June 2, 2012. She agreed she did not go to police to tell them what she had heard until she could check the date with her husband.

Fiona White, who lived at Kenmore Hills, said she heard a woman scream twice as she put her dog outside before bed sometime in April. "It was like … someone falling off a cliff, a push, high-pitched, it happened twice,'' she said.

She agreed in cross-examination she reported the scream to police on May 15, 2012, adding that it had "tormented" her.

Another local, David Jenkinson, told the jury his barking dogs woke him around 10.30pm on April 19, 2012.

"After that, the noise that I heard was initially two heavy thuds, one straight after the other," he said. "Not too long after that, maybe half a minute, I heard what sounded like a car door close."

What witnesses heard to the east of the Baden-Clay residence. Source: CourierMail

Daughters didn't hear anything

GERARD and Allison Baden-Clay's three daughters were asleep in the house the night their mum disappeared and didn't hear a sound.

In interviews conducted by detectives from Indooroopilly's Child Protection Investigation Unit, the girls, then aged 10, 8 and 5, told how their mum and dad had put them to bed around 7pm.

All three said they'd slept soundly until waking at 6.30am the next day.

Neighbours have told of hearing shouts, thuds and squealing tyres late at night.

"Can you remember hearing anything that night?'' a detective asked the eldest daughter in an interview conducted in June 2012.

"No,'' she replied.

She said she hadn't heard any car noises.

The girl told the detective she last saw her dad going to the downstairs fridge for milk.

She said she had gotten up to get a glass of water and her mum was lying on the couch watching television.

The middle child told a similar story. Asked to think back to that night, the girl said she heard a TV on when she went to bed. "Just voices,'' she said.

She thought her parents were watching TV "because they usually do''.

She said she hadn't heard cars starting or car doors opening or any fighting. The girl said she didn't know if her parents had ever argued.

What witnesses heard in the vicinity where Allison Baden-Clay's body was found. Source: CourierMail

'Mum always took her phone'

THREE little girls facing a ­future without their mum helped police to unravel the final night they shared with her in video interviews played back to the jury yesterday.

Allison Baden-Clay's daughters, aged 10, 8 and 5, told police officers at the Surfers Paradise Police Station on June 27, 2012 all they remembered of their seemingly normal and happy childhood before April 20, 2012.

The eldest daughter told police the family had brainstormed together to name the eight-seater Prado her father usually drove "Snowy" and silver Holden Captiva her mother often used, "Sparky".

When police searched Sparky after Ms Baden-Clay's disappearance, they photographed plastic containers filled with children's toys in the boot.

The eldest said the items were all packed up to go to a charity and they had been stored downstairs, near the garage door, so someone could come and pick them up in the future.

The eldest daughter said her mum would walk every morning, unless she had to be at work early, and would usually take her phone.

She said her mother always wore jumpers because she got cold easily, and often wore grey tracksuit pants.

The 10-year-old said her father was worried on the day her mum disappeared but was "trying to be confident".


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Unhappy campers in Swan Valley

Members of Swan Valley Nyungah community have returned to the Lockridge camp site which was closed 10 years ago. Picture: Daniel Wilkins Source: News Limited

FORMER residents of the Swan Valley Nyungah community are staying on site as they continue to protest the camp being demolished more than a decade after it was closed following allegations of widespread sexual and substance abuse.

The last remnants of the camp near Lockridge in Perth's northeast were razed by bulldozers in March.

The WA planning department plans to turn the land into a place of indigenous cultural significance, including a ceremonial area, a memory wall and story trails.

But former residents don't want it to become public open space and are seeking to re-establish the community.

Swan Valley elder Bella Bropho said there had been a lack of consultation about the future use of the site, which was considered sacred.

Ms Bropho said she was angry a fence around the site had been taken down and flora had been cleared.

"We're going there every day to make sure no more damage is done to the property," she told AAP.

"We'll continue to voice our opposition and are not going to give in.

"We want to get back onto the land and have housing."

government spokeswoman said the public open space project was going ahead.

The camp hit headlines around the nation in 1999 when 15-year-old resident Susan Taylor committed suicide and a subsequent inquest accepted evidence that rape and sexual abuse of minors was widespread and that drug taking was a major problem. It also spoke of inappropriate power relationships and the dominance of former camp elder Robert Bropho, Bella's father, who was jailed for 12 months for indecently assaulting a 13-year-old girl at the Swan Valley reserve in 2006.

He was then jailed for six years after the WA District Court convicted him of five counts of unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under 13 years, committed between 1990 and 1991.

He died while serving the sentence.


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Fines, bans for severe dog neglect

A Perth couple has been fined $10,000 and banned from owning any animal for five years after being found guilty of animal cruelty.

A PERTH couple has been fined $10,000 and banned from owning any animal for five years after being found guilty of animal cruelty.

RSPCA inspectors visited the Balga property of Deborah Hayes, a FIFO worker, and her partner, William John Warmdean, on August 21 last year after receiving a complaint about a rottweiler cross dog named Snoopy being kept in terrible conditions.

It was reported to have a severe skin condition with nearly total fur loss and was unable to stop scratching.

On arrival at the property, inspectors were confronted with a stench.

Warmdean refused to surrender the dog but was directed to seek veterinary treatment for him.

Warmdean did not do so, despite RSPCA's repeated attempts to work with and direct him.

The dog was then seized and treated at the animal welfare agency's veterinary clinic.

He was found to be suffering a severe skin disease and bacterial skin infection that resulted in skin thickening, scaling and crusting across his body and trunk.

The only areas not affected were his paws and muzzle.

"This poor dog had worn his teeth to the pulp from chewing his own skin given the irritation associated with the condition," RSPCA chief inspector Amanda Swift said.

"This is a disgusting case of neglect.

"Unfortunately on this occasion, Snoopy's condition was too far advanced and we were unable to save him."

Warmdean, who was in charge of the property where the dog lived at the time of the offence, was fined an additional $1000 for failing to follow directions issued by an RSPCA inspector.

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Priddis the anointed skipper: poll

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 12 Juni 2014 | 21.51

Will Matt Priddis be considered as the Eagles' next skipper? Picture: Michael Dodge/Getty Images Source: Getty Images

TOUGH midfielders Matt Priddis and Scott Selwood are the favourites to takes over as West Coast captain, according to more than 4500 PerthNow readers.

In our PerthNow poll, we took the question on everybody's lips – who will replace Darren Glass as skipper – to the masses.

So far, Priddis leads the field with 36.16 per cent of the vote, followed by Scott Selwood (27.48 per cent), Shannon Hurn (15.57 per cent), Josh Kennedy (10.38 per cent), Nic Naitanui (7.1 per cent) and Luke Shuey (3.31 per cent).

Selwood is heir apparent to Glass, with the 24-year-old is being groomed to be full-time skipper as one of two vice-captains this year along with power forward Josh Kennedy. It had long been anticipated 2014 would be a swansong season for the courageous and highly regarded Glass.

But West Coast heavyweights should immediately implant nuggetty on-ball playmaker Matt Priddis as captain.

Priddis, 29, should be skipper for the rest of this season and through until he retires in two or three years.

West Coast and first-year coach Adam Simpson is in dire need of inspirational leadership on and off the field in the wake of the exit of Glass, who is impeccable in setting required standards of training ethics and cultural formation needed at the highest level.

Another genuine leader around the playing group in the important match-day adherence to operations and rules as well as day-to-day professionalism is tough defender Shannon Hurn.

Hurn, 26, is seldom referred to as a captaincy candidate, but the hard-nut backliner oozes leadership and is highly regarded by his peers and Eagles management for setting impeccable leadership standards.

An ultimate replacement for Glass though points directly to Priddis and Selwood, with Kennedy somewhat of an outside chance.

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It’s war: Essendon to fight drugs blitz

AFL 360 panellists Gerard Whateley and Dermott Brereton discuss the repercussions of the show-cause notices handed to Essendon by ASADA.

Fox Sports AFL correspondent Julian de Stoop discusses the processes involved for Essendon after reports emerged some players had been issued show cause notices by ASADA over the 2012 suuplements scandal.

Essendon players have been issued with show cause notices for doping, according to the Herald Sun, 16 months after the probe into the Bombers 2012 supplements program began.

The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority served show-cause notices on Essendon players this afternoon over the club's 2012 supplements program. Source: News Limited

AFL boss Gillon Mclachlan is yet to speak about how the AFL intends to respond to the development. Picture: David Caird. Source: News Corp Australia

The Essendon Bombers' season appears in disarray after 34 players - yet were issued with show cause notices over the controversial 2012 drugs scandal. Picture: Toby Zerna Source: News Corp Australia

ESSENDON will launch a counter-attack against the AFL and ASADA after players were sensationally issued with legal notices on Thursday over football's doping scandal.

The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority is informing 34 players they have a case to answer over the club's 2012 supplements program.

ASADA notified players by email and texts, detailing that they face "show cause'' notices and will now have to prove why they should not be cited for doping.

The dramatic move, which follows a 16-month probe, throws the AFL season into turmoil.

Essendon sources last night revealed the club will hit back, by seeking a Federal Court declaration that the joint AFL-ASADA investigation was unlawful.

MARK ROBINSON: BOMBERS MUST TAKE THE ULTIMATE STEP

JON RALPH: ANOTHER YEAR IN RUINS AS DOOMSDAY LOOMS

TIMELINE: HOW THE DRUGS SAGA HAS UNFOLDED

ASADA INQUIRY: WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

MORE: BOMBERS LOOKING FORWARD TO HIRD'S RETURN

An application to the court, arguing the joint probe breached disclosure laws, could be launched by the Bombers as early as today. This would aim to stop ASADA's action, and any sanctions against players and club staff, in its tracks.

ASADA's case against the players is believed to centre on the use of the peptide thymosin beta 4, banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Players would face bans of up to two years if they are found guilty of taking prohibited substances. Essendon chairman Paul Little was holding crisis talks with club officials last night. He is believed to be shattered by the latest development in the long-running saga.

The club would not comment.

Bombers legend Tim Watson, the father of club captain and 2012 Brownlow medallist Jobe Watson, said last night the players were "shocked".

Watson also indicated Essendon would launch a legal challenge.

"The new AFL CEO, Gill McLachlan, told the CEOs and presidents only last week that they should start preparing themselves for what could be a very bumpy ride," he said.

"Today's news, though, that the players have received show cause notices, would have been a real shock."

McLachlan told the Herald Sun: "I can't comment."

Any charges against Essendon players and officials will ultimately be heard by an AFL tribunal. Players and their lawyers will have 10 days to respond to the show cause notices.

They would do so by providing reasons why ASADA should not proceed.

ASADA has probed what club-appointed investigator Ziggy Switkowski said was "a disturbing picture of a pharmacologically experimental environment never adequately controlled or challenged or documented within the club".

Essendon has strongly indicated in recent weeks that it could challenge in the Federal Court the legality of ASADA's joint investigation with the AFL.

Co-operation between ASADA and AFL chiefs ceased last year after an interim report was used as the basis for heavy governance sanctions meted out to the club and officials, including suspended coach James Hird.

Little said in a statement on the club's website yesterday, before the show cause notices were issued: "I can confirm we are exploring all legal options for our players in the unlikely event they receive show cause letters from ASADA — we make no apologies for that."

ASADA has already issued a show cause notice to Essendon's former sports scientist, Stephen Dank, and could yet issue them against other support staff.

Essendon's legal challenges could include calling on ASADA to show its evidence supporting a doping violation.

Lawyers could argue a "no fault" or negligence defence, claiming players had no knowledge of substances administered in 2012.

The Essendon scandal erupted on February 5 last year, when the Bombers "self-reported" to the AFL and ASADA and asked to be investigated.

Betting giant TAB last night suspended betting on Essendon playing in the finals.

michael.warner@news.com.au


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