The Snitch: Strike Force Raptor’s pre-Christmas raid mistake
Bikie busters Strike Force Raptor officers are no strangers to kicking down doors to raid the homes of suspected criminals … but a pre-Christmas sortie went awry because of a simple mistake.
NSW
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Knock knock. Who’s there?
Strike Force Raptor. Strike Force Raptor who?
Strike Force Raptor who has the wrong house.
If only this was the conversation that was had during a raid on a Western Sydney house last month, the bikie-busting squad may have avoided severe embarrassment.
Instead, they kicked down the door of the wrong home on December 19 and scared the living daylights out of a family inside.
The officers were provided with the wrong address and the real target didn’t live there.
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Sources said the innocent family inside was shaken but grateful police realised their mistake before they started rummaging through the home.
Raptor were looking for one of five men involved in a violent and unruly brawl that turned Haymarket restaurant Golden Century upside down in October.
During the brawl, chairs and tables were thrown across the dining room and a 34-year-old man was punched.
Three people in total have been charged over the bust-up.
GAY BULLYING CASE
A teacher being sued by an ex-student is set to defend claims he led a bullying campaign against the teen by implying he was a homosexual.
But in the event the teacher loses the case, he is also countersuing the NSW Department of Education to have his costs covered by taxpayers.
The student, who cannot be named because he is a minor, launched action in the Supreme Court, claiming he was psychologically damaged after the teacher ridiculed him — often in lessons in front of classmates — to the point where he tried to commit suicide in May 2018.
The teen also claims his humiliation was worsened by the fact he was from a tiny town and dropped out of the state school without completing Year 12 after being suspended for lashing out at the teacher.
In his statement of claim lodged with the court by lawyer Todd Scott, the alleged bullying included the teacher showing the class a full screen-sized sign on a laptop that said the teenager “loves” another male teen.
The teacher, who also cannot be identified to protect the teenager’s identity, quit his position and is now working at another school.
His lawyer Robert Higgins filed a defence with the court late last year denying the teen’s allegations.
In the event he loses, the teacher’s statement said he should be indemnified by
the state.
The state is set to fight this and the teenager’s claims, and has filed a defence with the court.
MAX PUNISHMENT
When you’re locked up in NSW’s most secure prison, it’s life’s simple joys that count the most. Like reading a book. Just ask convicted terrorist Mustafa Cheiko.
Cheiko, who was arrested during one of Australia’s biggest counter-terrorism operations in 2005, allegedly lost his cool late last year inside Goulburn’s Supermax prison when he thought his religious books had vanished.
He allegedly elbowed a corrective services officer in the face and has recently got himself reprimanded for assaulting a prison guard.
Got a Snitch? Contact Ava.benny-morrison@news.com.au or Brenden.hills@news.com.au
Originally published as The Snitch: Strike Force Raptor’s pre-Christmas raid mistake