The Snitch: Former ACA reporter Ben McCormack bouncing from job to job
His case shocked and appalled Sydney and now The Snitch hears former A Current Affair reporter Ben McCormack is attempting to set-up a new life interstate after he went down for child porn offences.
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His case shocked and appalled Sydney and now The Snitch hears former A Current Affair reporter Ben McCormack is attempting to set-up a new life interstate after he went down for child porn offences.
It’s understood the former TV journalist is trying to keep a low profile working menial jobs but has struggled to fit back into society since being placed on a three-year good behaviour bond and fined $1000 after he got involved with a paedophile ring.
We’re told he has bounced around and has even had to quit one job after a customer at the establishment recognised him.
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Not surprisingly, when Snitch put some feelers out to see what had become of the fallen figure, we were told he doesn’t want to be found.
McCormack, who famously chased down child sex offender and former Hey Dad star Robert Hughes as an ACA reporter, avoided jail after pleading guilty to two counts of using a carriage service to transmit child porn.
The case heard he had conversations with an adult male between April 2015 and February 2017 involving “fantasising about young male persons” but no child abuse images were transmitted.
It cost McCormack his career and his life as he knew it.
MEDAL OF HONOUR?
A NSW Police officer has found himself in hot water for pinning defence force medals onto his leather police jacket.
While the honorary display sounds harmless enough, it’s been alleged acting Sergeant Darrin Hooper didn’t actually do what you’re meant to do to receive the awards.
A sharp-eyed web sleuth posted about the case on a military impostor forum and it’s since snowballed into an internal police investigation.
It’s understood Hooper was spotted on a reality TV show about cops wearing three defence medals, including the Australian Service Medal, which suggested he served in an active war zone.
Asked about the situation, a NSW Police spokeswoman would only confirm the matter was under investigation.
“As the investigation is ongoing, no further comment is possible.”
The improper use of service documents is a criminal offence under the Defence Act 1903, and attracts a maximum six-month jail term or $3300 fine.
UH OH, SUZI Q
As the wife of the country town’s traffic boss, the last place you’d expect to see Jane Miller come unstuck is at a roadside breath test.
Even more so when her husband, Senior Sergeant Dean Miller is in the passenger seat.
But it turns out even police spouses aren’t immune from making poor driving decisions.
After a Suzi Quatro concert at the Gateway Lakes in Wodonga on the NSW-Victoria border on March 2, Ms Miller was the designated driver.
On the way home, she was pulled over at 11.25pm and recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.96, almost twice the legal limit.
You can only imagine the look on the face of the officer administering the breath test when he looked in the car and saw his boss, one of the supervisors at the Murray River Police District traffic office, in the front seat.
Luckily, The Snitch is told, Sgt Miller’s boss, Chief Inspector Greg Lynch, who also attended the concert that night, opted for a walk rather than a lift home. Ms Miller was charged with mid range PCA and appeared in Albury Local Court last Monday. She indicated she would plead guilty.
NO CHINK IN THE CHAIN
The NSW Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has a new acting boss of its appeal units.
Meet Maria Cinque SC who took up the role last week after a stint as the second in charge of the NSW Crime Commission, the state’s powerful criminal intelligence gathering organisation.
Ms Cinque has previously worked as a Crown prosecutor at the ODPP, whose efforts saw killer Paul Mulvihill jailed for almost 30 years after he murdered his girlfriend Rachelle Yeo at her Northern Beaches apartment in 2012.
COURT CHEER SQUAD
Keen true crime followers would have noticed an interesting support group in court for the latest man to be charged with murdering bikie boss Mick Hawi.
As the case of Jamal El Jaidi was being heard in court three of Burwood Local Court on Thursday, at the back was Nedal Haouchar.
According to sources, he’s a close friend of El Jaidi and the pair went on a holiday to Lebanon last year just after Hawi was murdered.
There is no suggestion Nedal Haouchar was involved in the murder.
While Ned would be relatively unknown to readers, his brother Bilal has featured prominently in the headlines and is currently one of Australia’s most wanted men. Bilal fled Australia last year and is wanted for kidnapping.
He is most well known for his hatred of the Ibrahim clan.
Got a snitch? Contact Ava.benny-morrison@news.com.au or Brenden.hills@news.com.au
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