Jury member revealed to panel she knew of accused man’s family in murder trial of Curtis Cheng
It can finally be revealed why the jury of the lengthy trial related to the murder of NSW Police accountant Curtis Cheng was dismissed.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The reason for an entire jury being booted off a lengthy trial related to the murder of NSW Police accountant Curtis Cheng has finally been revealed in a recent judgment.
A red flag was raised in the case of Mustafa Dirani, 25, last August after a juror — let’s call him the good juror — called the Australian Federal Police claiming a fellow female juror — let’s call her juror X — had possibly been paid off.
Dirani acted as a lookout for two men involved in supplying the gun used to murder Cheng in Parramatta in 2015.
MORE NEWS
NSW’s oldest jails under threat of closure
Tenants ‘homeless’ after Mascot tower cracks
Beauty empire queen charged with commercial drug supply
His co-accused — and now convicted — was Talal Alameddine, 25.
Alameddine supplied the gun used to murder Cheng to teenager shooter Farhad Jabar.
Dirani’s trial had entered its second month when the good juror’s call to the AFP switchboard came through.
Naturally, the information sent the bench and bar table into a spin.
In a judgment only released publicly on Friday, it was revealed juror X had told the rest of the panel that she knew the Alameddine family and had mentioned links to drugs.
Apparently, when another juror confronted her about how she knew that, juror X was “increasingly hostile” and stormed out of the room.
The good juror decided to spill the beans to the AFP two days after the panel retired to decide Dirani’s guilt or innocence.
Not surprisingly the trial was stopped and the jury was told to go back to their day jobs.
It meant two months of trial in the NSW Supreme Court went down the gurgler.
Fortunately, Dirani faced a second trial this year and was convicted of his role in the terror plot.
It was only after the judgment was released publicly that the jury dramas of the first trial emerged.
ON TRIAL
John Ibrahim’s glamorous girlfriend Sarah Budge is a step closer to a second go at trial.
The model appeared in the Downing Centre District Court on Thursday for a bail review with her conditions including reporting to Kings Cross police station once a week and a hefty $50,000 surety.
Her trial for gun charges was delayed in March following the death of her mother. But with her case due back in court over the next 10 days, the ball will start rolling again to get her before a jury. Stay tuned.
DISTRACTED DRIVER
When you’re behind the wheel with the latest episode of your favourite reality TV show streaming on your phone, the last person you want to pull up next to you is the state’s highway patrol boss.
Earlier this month, Assistant Commissioner Mick Corboy was on his way home from the gym when he stopped at a set of lights at South Penrith and glanced at the car next to him.
Behind the wheel was a P-plater with a TV show playing on her phone, which was rested against her speedometer.
Dusting off the blue and red flashing lights on his unmarked police car, the top brass pulled the blissfully ignorant young driver over.
According to the Traffic and Highway Patrol boss, the girl tried the oldest trick in the book and threw her mobile phone on the car floor.
“She didn’t think there was anything wrong with that,” he recalled. He told her to expect a fine in the mail.
KORNY WRITING
Snitch loves a dedication to a dying art, so we bring you this from defence barrister John Korn.
In an age when penmanship is dying, Mr Korn — who has represented high-profile criminals such as former Comanchero boss Mick Hawi — has an unwavering commitment to the fountain pen.
Any judge, lawyer, cop or crim who has received paperwork from Korn would have noticed it marked with his characteristic cursive.
It began as a joke gift but has resulted in Korn searching for the perfect coloured inks and pen bodies.
“There is more to writing than the mere function of it,” Korn said. “You have to consider the aesthetics.”
About 30 years ago a member of the court transcription service gifted him a fountain pen. “They said, given that I spoke so quickly I needed a pen that wrote quickly,” Korn said.
It was a Pentel metallic fountain pen with black ink, and he soon branched out to red, dark blue and different nib widths.
The pen was discontinued in 2008 and Korn said he “scoured the globe and bought the last boxes”. He was soon introduced to Lamy pens, which brought back bad school memories.
“(That was) because of the amount of ink I used to spill at school and the raps on the knuckles I received with a steel ruler in sixth grade if our writing didn’t look sufficiently cursive,” he said.
It tapped into his inner nerd. “Now I look around the world for different Lamys and I’ve discovered there’s a whole world of people fanatical about inks — it’s like stamp collecting,” he said.
“I’ve become a maniac at finding a (pen) body to match the colour of the ink.” There’s also a Friday cleaning regime that involves a jam jar and soapy water.
NEW COMMISH
After the mysterious departure of NSW’s State Emergency Service Commissioner, the hunt is on for a permanent replacement.
Mark Smethurst, a former special forces officer, resigned from the plum role in March amid misconduct allegations.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Kyle Stewart was parachuted into the role and from all accounts has been quite comfortable.
But apparently, a few other cops wouldn’t mind a look in. One source tells us an Inspector from Traffic and Highway Patrol, an accomplished figure from the Public Order and Riot Squad and a suburban Superintendent will throw their hats in the ring.
Got a snitch? Contact Ava.benny-morrison@news.com.au or Brenden.hills@news.com.au