‘Star picket’ allegations to be heard in court

Two men are expected to appear in court today after alleged involvement in violent incidents in Tennant Creek and Alice Springs.

A 30-year-old Alice Springs man handed himself into police following an aggravated assault incident at a licensed premises in the town earlier this week.

Police will allege the man assaulted a staff member and two patrons after being refused entry.

They will also claim the man is alleged to have armed himself with a star picket and threatened the staff member and two patrons and damaged items inside the property.

He was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, assault workers, engage in violent conduct, damage to property, disorderly behaviour in public and fail to leave a licensed premises.

Meanwhile, police have charged a 23-year-old man with physically assaulting a woman in February last year in a remote community in the Barkly region.

Police will allege that on February 4 2021 the man assaulted a 23-year-old woman who was known to him.

The woman suffered serious injuries as a result of the assault and sought help at the community store who contacted local police.

The man was arrested by detectives in Alice Springs on Wednesday.

He has been charged with one count each of aggravated assault and breach domestic violence order.

Both cases were expected to appear in Alice Springs court today.

Violence, break-ins up during “challenging” month for police

THE Top End has seen increases in both break-ins and domestic violence in what has proven a “challenging” month for police.

Commander Danny Bacon said while there had been a reduction in city residential unlawful entries by 2 per cent and property damage by 4 per cent, there had not been much more good news.

Break-ins, both residential and commercial, have increased by 16 and 49 per cent respectively.

“This month we’ve seen an increase in both those areas and crime types around town,” Cmdr Bacon said.

“A lot of that is different areas of offending as well.

“While we have some youth offending in that space, we’re also seeing a lot of adult offending as well, particularly relating to alcohol.”

As well as break-ins, the number of call-outs for domestic violence had also remained stubbornly high sitting at 19 per cent in Darwin while Palmerston had risen to 17 per cent from last month.

On Thursday night alone police were called to 21 domestic violence cases in the Greater Darwin area alone.

However, Cmdr Bacon said numbers had seen an overall reduction since November 2021 when Darwin was sitting at 32 per cent and Palmerston at 47 per cent.

“The message is we’re coming for you, there is no excuse for domestic violence whatsoever,” he said.

“We’re actually having some headway there particularly when encouraging people to talk about domestic violence and approach service providers to assist in that space.”

Cmdr Bacon said while morale could be challenging he had the utmost respect for the work done by officers.

“Morale is quite challenging but I’m very proud of the police force,” Cmdr Bacon said.

“Morale is one of those things that can change on a daily basis. It can go up and down. It’s very challenging for them for a number of reasons.”

Alice Springs man caught with drugs and $95k

AN ALICE Springs man will face court after being found with a “significant amount” of drugs and cash.

Police have charged the man after locating the items in his Larapinta home yesterday.

It is alleged a group of officers working under the Southern Drug Investigation Unit, Southern Dog Operations, Strike Force Viper and general duties found 1.188kg of cannabis, seven cannabis plants and more than $95,000 in Australian dollars.

The 44-year-old man was arrested and has been charged on a range of drug charges, including possessing, supplying and cultivating drugs.

He will be in court on 18 March.

Two youths arrested following Northern Suburbs break-ins

TWO youths have been arrested, while five others have been identified, in relation to a number of property offences in Darwin’s Northern Suburbs overnight on Monday.

Those property offences include stealing and later dumping a motor vehicle, assaulting a worker, threatening a worker and stealing and property damage at a number of locations in Malak and Karama between 9pm and 2.40am.

A 14-year-old girl has been charged with aggravated unlawful use of a motor vehicle, unlawful entry, two counts of damage to property, aggravated robbery, stealing, attempted unlawful entry, aggravated assault and serious breach of bail.

A 12-year-old boy has been charged with aggravated unlawful use of a motor vehicle, unlawful entry, damage to property, stealing, attempted unlawful entry and aggravated assault.

The 14-year-old was remanded and the 12-year-old bailed with both appearing in Darwin Local Court on Wednesday.

“The other youths, three boys and two girls aged between 10 and 13 will be dealt with under the provisions of the Youth Justice Act,” Acting Superintendent Mark Bland said.

Two Palmerston break-ins under investigation

Detectives from Strike Force Trident are investigating three unlawful entries in the Palmerston central business district overnight on Tuesday.

The first incident occurred around 12.20am and saw a licenced premises was unlawfully entered resulting in a quantity of alcohol stolen.

Police CCTV operators saw a suspect and police arrested a woman shortly afterward.

The second incident occurred around 3.30am. Security guards at another licenced premises alerted police to an unlawful entry which saw a small amount of alcohol stolen.

And just after 5am it was reported by the first business that their venue has been entered a second time in the same night.

CCTV operators saw four offenders fleeing on foot with one alleged offender found and arrested just after 6am.

“Investigations are ongoing to identify and apprehend the outstanding offenders,” Acting Superintendent Mark Bland.

“Anyone with information, CCTV or dash-cam footage from the CBD area between 5:00 and 6:00am is asked to contact police on 131 444.”

Investigations ongoing into Driver unlawful entries

Investigations into two unlawful entries in Driver, in which a large amount of valuable goods were stolen, are ongoing.

The first incident saw a group of five offenders enter a property on Driver Ave just before 11am on Monday and after rummaging through the house they allegedly forced open a safe.

The same group is believed to be responsible for a second unlawful entry nearby on Bailey Cct later the same day.

“Strike Force Trident identified two youths involved, aged 13 and 15, and have recovered some of the stolen items,” Acting Superintendent Mark Bland said.

“The youths and their families are assisting us with our enquiries.

“We are still calling for anyone with dash-cam footage or other information to come forward.”

Originally published as ‘Star picket’ allegations to be heard in court