Category: Newcastle News

Police are appealing for public assistance to find a girl reported missing from Newcastle.
Hailey Price, aged 13, was last seen leaving a home on Bellevue Street, Newcastle on the morning of Wednesday 23 December 2020, but has not been seen since.
Hailey is described as being of Caucasian appearance, with long brown hair, brown eyes, about 160cm tall, with a slim build.
After extensive inquiries by officers from Newcastle City Police District Hailey has not been located and due to her age police have concerns for her welfare.
Anyone who has information about Hailey’s whereabouts, is urged to contact Newcastle City Police (02) 4929 0999 or Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000.
 

Police are appealing for public information to find a man missing from the Lake Macquarie region.
Brett Constable, aged 47, from Orange, was last seen at a home on Oakland Street, Glendale, about 1am on Tuesday (5 January 2021).
Officers from Lake Macquarie Police District were notified of his disappearance later that morning and commenced inquiries into his whereabouts.
Police and family have concerns for Brett’s welfare.
He is described as being of Caucasian appearance, about 186cm tall, of solid build, with short brown, curly hair, and a grey beard. He has a skull and rose tattoo on his left chest.
Police are urging anyone with information about Brett’s whereabouts to call Lake Macquarie Police District or Crime Stoppers.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence. The public is reminded not to report information via NSW Police social media pages.

A man will appear in court today charged over the alleged commercial supply of prohibited drugs near Newcastle.
In October 2020, Strike Force Megig was established by the Hunter Regional Enforcement Squad (RES) to investigate the supply of illicit drugs in the Newcastle and Hunter regions.
Following inquiries, Hunter RES – assisted by Northern Operational Support Group officers (Operation Utah) and officers attached to Port Stephens-Hunter Police District – arrested a 29-year-old man at a caravan park on the Pacific Highway, Heatherbrae, about 7.30pm yesterday (Tuesday 5 January 2021).
Officers executed a search warrant at a cabin in the park, where they allegedly located more than 1kg of cocaine, drug paraphernalia and mobile phones.
The estimated potential street value of the cocaine is $450,000.
The man, from Palmview in Queensland, was taken to Raymond Terrace Police Station where he was charged with supply large commercial quantity prohibited drug and possess prohibited drug.
He was refused bail to appear at Newcastle Local Court today (Wednesday 6 January 2021).

Two men will face court today following a vehicle stop in Newcastle yesterday.
About 11.45am (Tuesday 5 January 2021), officers from Newcastle City Police District were patrolling the Wallsend area when they stopped a Subaru Forrester on Cowper Street and spoke with two men – aged 26 and 30.
Both men were arrested in relation to traffic offences and outstanding arrest warrants.
Police conducted a search of the vehicle during which officers located precursors consistent with the alleged manufacture of prohibited drugs, along with drug paraphernalia, methylamphetamine and GBL.
NSW Fire and & Rescue HAZMAT crews were called to render the scene safe, with officers attached to the State Crime Command Drug and Firearms Squad’s Chemical Operations Team deployed to process the scene.
The alleged driver – a 30-year-old Jesmond man – was charged with drive motor vehicle during disqualification period.
A 26-year-old Raymond Terrace man was charged with four outstanding warrants for numerous property, drug, weapon and breach of bail offences.
Both men were refused bail to appear at Newcastle Local Court today (Wednesday 6 January 2021).
Investigations into the items located during the vehicle search are ongoing.

Police are re-appealing for public assistance as inquiries continue to locate a man and woman who are wanted on outstanding warrants.
Elika Asasi, aged 27, is wanted after she escaped from Corrective Services NSW custody at Westmead Hospital on Wednesday 9 December.
Elika is described as being of Mediterranean/Middle Eastern appearance, about 165cm tall, of medium build, with brown hair.
Christopher Szenczy, aged 31, is wanted on an outstanding warrant for drug and property related offences and was seen driving away from Westmead Hospital in a vehicle with Elika.
Christopher is described as being of Caucasian appearance, about 170cm tall, of solid build, with short brown hair.
Detectives are now working with officers from the Port Stephens-Hunter Police District, as police have received information that the man and woman may have travelled to the Hunter region.
Police are warning members of the public not to approach the pair, but to instead call Triple Zero (000) immediately.
Inquiries continue.

Police are appealing for information and searching for a driver who fled the scene of a crash in the Hunter Region overnight.
About 9.30pm (Wednesday 6 January 2021), officers from Hunter Valley Police District attended Chapman Street and found a dark grey Holden Statesman crashed into a house.
Police have been told the car was travelling on High Street when it struck a Ford Fiesta, mounted the kerb, before hitting the house, causing significant damage.
The driver fled the scene prior to the arrival of officers.
A crime scene was established and inquiries to locate the driver have commenced.
The residents of the home were uninjured.

Police have located and charged a man and woman wanted on outstanding warrants in the Hunter Region yesterday.
Following a public appeal for assistance and extensive inquiries into the location of the woman who escaped from Corrective Services NSW custody last month, and a wanted man, officers attached to Port Stephens-Hunter Police District were alerted to the possible location of the pair about 4.45pm yesterday (Wednesday 6 January 2021).
With assistance from the Proactive Crime Team, police attended a home on Richardson Road, Raymond Terrace, where they arrested a 27-year-old woman and 31-year-old man allegedly hiding in a bedroom.
Police located a knife and two sets of car keys allegedly within the man’s backpack.
The man and woman were taken to Raymond Terrace Police Station where they were charged with various offences.
The woman was charged with shoplifting, drive conveyance taken without consent of owner, use class A vehicle with unauthorised number plate affixed, drive unlicensed, and goods in personal custody suspected being stolen (motor vehicle).
The man was charged with shoplifting, drive conveyance taken without consent of owner, use class A vehicle with unauthorised number plate affixed, two counts of drive motor vehicle during disqualification period, possess or use a prohibited weapon without permit, and goods in personal custody suspected being stolen (motor vehicle).
They were both refused bail to appear in Newcastle Local Court today (Thursday 7 January 2021).
Police will allege the woman, a female inmate, escaped from Westmead Hospital at around 10.40am, Wednesday 9 December 2020, with the man – who was wanted on an outstanding warrant for drug and property related offences.
Police will further allege the pair committed various stealing offences, including two cars and alcohol from a bottle shop.

A man will face court today charged with drug and property offences in the Hunter region.
Officers from Port Stephens-Hunter Police District were conducting patrols of Oyster Cove following reports of a grey utility undertaking dangerous driving behaviour in the area.
Police were driving along Oyster Cove Road when they located a grey Holden ute stopped on the side of the road with two men changing a tyre on the vehicle.
Officers stopped and spoke with two men – aged 20 and 25.
Following further inquiries, police conducted a search of the vehicle where they located methylamphetamine and more than $2,000 in cash – some of the notes were melted together.
The 20-year-old was arrested and taken to Nelson Bay Police Station.
He was charged with supply indictable quantity prohibited drug and deal with the proceeds of crime, as well as a breach of bail offence.
The Lemon Tree Passage man was refused bail to appear at Newcastle Local Court today (Tuesday 5 January 2021).

City of Newcastle’s water saving action has gained attention, with Hunter Water reporting an impressive 20% reduction in consumption during recent Level 1 and 2 Water Restrictions*, saving in excess of 80 megalitres of precious water and an estimated $220,000.
Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said City of Newcastle is committed to long-term water efficiency initiatives and maintaining the momentum beyond the impressive results to-date.
“City staff acted quickly and worked collaboratively with Hunter Water and key stakeholders to reduce water consumption across the city, as soon as water restrictions were announced,” said Cr Nelmes.
“Initiatives included minimising irrigation practices at sporting fields, parks and Blackbutt Reserve, installing new rainwater tanks, using surface water catchment ponds at Summerhill Waste Management Centre, and auditing water use at inland pools.
“In addition, the City implemented efficiency strategies such as temporarily ceasing the water intensive annual planting regime at King Edward Park, and installing smart water meters at key sites across the city that track water usage in real time and help identify leaks.
“The City is currently installing new sand pipe infrastructure near Summerhill to access dam and non-potable water for washing down trucks and dust suppression. We will continue to use leak detection measures, improve irrigation practices, use nozzles, limit travelling irrigators, avoid daytime watering where possible, and increase staff awareness of water usage to change behaviours.
“Now that Smart Water Choices have replaced Level 1 Water Restrictions, City of Newcastle will continue to work with Hunter Water to ensure we are leading the way and using water as efficiently as possible, whilst continuing to provide amenity at key sites across the Local Government Area.
“This is an impressive result, but we must not be complacent. Collectively we need to continue to be mindful of our water consumption behaviours on an ongoing basis, particularly over this peak Summer water-usage period.
“We encourage Novocastrians to adopt simple everyday water saving behaviours that they demonstrated during Level 1 Water Restrictions.”
Hunter Water’s Executive Manager Customer Strategy & Retail, Victor Prasad, acknowledged the excellent water saving efforts of City of Newcastle.
“City of Newcastle has achieved a fantastic result and I applaud their ongoing commitment to saving our most precious resource,” said Mr Prasad.
“Hunter Water is grateful to all Councils across our area of operations for working closely with us during the period of water restrictions to drive down water use and encourage everyone to love water.
“We will build on these results to save even more drinking water by exploring opportunities for recycled water schemes to irrigate public open spaces and playing fields.”
*Hunter Water’s Level 1 and 2 Water Restrictions were in effect between September 2019 to 1 October 2020.