Afternoon. A couple from country New South Wales used the intellectually disabled teenager Amber Michelle Haigh as a “surrogate mother” so they could have another baby, before killing her, a court has heard.
Robert and Anne Geeves face one count each of murder over the suspected killing of Haigh, who disappeared in June 2002. Haigh’s disappearance has been a high-profile public mystery in the Harden area of the Riverina, where she was living at the time.
The couple spoke in court on Friday morning only to individually plead not guilty to murder.
- Man jailed for bashing Melbourne partner Jessica Geddes to death | Robert Rickerby, 30, has been sentenced to at least 11 years in jail after pleading guilty to manslaughter. Rickerby viciously bashed his partner, left her to die in the bedroom, then went to collect takeaway pizzas and ate several pieces before calling his parents, a court has heard.
- Channel Seven reporter sacked after alleged inappropriate behaviour | The Sydney crime reporter Robert Ovadia confirmed he lost his job but denies any suggestion he has been inappropriate, describing the allegations as false and malicious. Ovadia was stood down two weeks ago while Seven conducted an internal investigation.
- WA opposition leader denies bullying fellow Nationals MP | Louise Kingston resigned from the party during a tearful address to parliament, saying she had been a “victim of relentless bullying and harassment the leader of the Nationals”. Shane Love said he doesn’t know what he allegedly did to Kingston and that he had tried to contact her but received no response.
- Arrest in Sydney over alleged fatal road rage incident | A 39-year-old man has handed himself in at Mount Druitt police station after an alleged road rage incident in Sydney’s west. A 27-year-old man died yesterday after he was struck by a white ute allegedly after an exchange of words on Jersey Road in Blackett.
- Charges dropped for dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters in US | Police arrested 46 protesters in April who had barricaded themselves inside New York’s Columbia University and cleared a weeks-old tent encampment that has inspired similar pro-Palestinian protests at universities around the world.
- Cyprus stresses neutrality after Hezbollah threat | The Cypriot government says it “is not involved, and will not be involved, in any war or conflicts” after the Hezbollah leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, warned Cyprus would become a target if it allowed Israel to use its territory to attack Lebanon.
- South Korea considers arming Ukraine | Infuriated by the recently announced military pact between Russia and North Korea, Seoul has warned it may send arms to Ukraine in response. Speaking in Hanoi, Vladimir Putin said that supplying weapons to Ukraine would be “a very big mistake” on South Korea’s part.
- Expensive race to unseat New York progressive | The primary for New York’s 16th congressional district has become “the most expensive House primary ever”, with more than A$34.5m spent on ads so far. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) and a cryptocurrency Super Pac are behind the lion’s share of the funding, with Aipac’s affiliated Super Pac spending A$22m to unseat progressive and outspoken Israel critic Jamaal Bowman.
