Author: Stephen Taylor

TWO men convicted over a vicious home invasion in Frankston in July last year have been given jail terms of eight and five years – sentences regarded as “appropriate” by detectives. Christopher Russell, 27, and Nicholas Kiezenberg, 32, both of Langwarrin, were arrested after an aggravated burglary at a Queens St house in the early hours and assaulting a man not known to them. In the struggle, the man was struck to the head with an iron bar and received a fractured skull. Detective Senior Constable Mark Garrett, of Frankston CIU, said the motive for the crime was simply to…

Read More

A RECORD number of patients sought treatment at Frankston Hospital’s emergency department after an early evening cool change swept through last Monday (21 November). The thunderstorm asthma event described by senior Melbourne medicos as “a health emergency of unprecedented scale” put emergency medical services under pressure throughout Melbourne. Eight people have now died and thousands were left gasping for breath after wild winds coincided with a high pollen count. Such was the scale of the event that Ambulance Victoria was forced to issue an alert on Twitter. After the weather-driven disaster hit, Frankston Hospital’s emergency department was deluged with 77 patients…

Read More

A DISORIENTATED swimmer struggling in the water about one and a half kilometres off Frankston beach put up a fight when police arrived to rescue him, Friday 11 November. The 32-year-old Frankston freestyler had other ideas: he was intent on making it to “a concert” in St Kilda – 40km away – and did not take kindly to efforts by Senior Constables Julie Edge and Paul Follett, of Frankston police, to haul him aboard. Earlier, onlookers at Frankston pier raised the alarm when they saw the fully clothed man climb down into the water and swim off into the distance.…

Read More

A MACHETE found on the Henry St Trail in Heatherton may have been dropped by a tree vandal responsible for the destruction of up to 30 trees across Kingston over the past few weeks. Moorabbin Police Sergeant Kevin Bond said the machete was similar to that described by a resident who saw the man hacking into trees in the area. When confronted the man acted aggressively before running off. Sergeant Bond said forensic tests were being run to help identify the man, described as Caucasian, in his early 20s, who is also believed to carry an axe. “We have made…

Read More

A HASTINGS man discovered sleeping in a car in a quiet lane off Olivers Hill last week, was one of the Mornington Peninsula’s “most wanted men”. The 25-year-old, accompanied by a woman, was seen by a passerby in what turned out to be a stolen Mercedes sedan about 7am, Tuesday 8 November. Frankston police who responded found a rifle in the car which was allegedly stolen from a Somerville property on 31 October. Detective Senior Sergeant Peter Drake, of Mornington Peninsula CIU, described the man as one of the peninsula’s “most wanted”. The man was later charged with 40 offences,…

Read More