Joanna Menagh
Joanna Menagh is the senior court reporter for ABC News Perth. She has reported on Western Australia's most high profile cases on television, radio and online for more than a decade.
Latest by Joanna Menagh
Man gets 20-year minimum sentence for scissor murder of 53yo and attack on two others in drug -induced psychosis
A man who killed one person and stabbed two others in the Perth suburb of Tuart Hill will be eligible for parole in 20 years, after he was sentenced to life behind bars.
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Father who drove off pier in remote WA wanted to baptise his son, not murder him, court told
A Perth court hears the 26-year-old man, who drove into the ocean off Dampier, was suffering psychosis and was attempting to baptise his son, not kill him.
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Man accused of killing WA police officer Anthony Woods pleads not guilty to his murder
Constable Anthony Woods died after being dragged under a car during a traffic stop in Perth last year.
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Arrest warrant issued for 11yo charged over assault on 69-year-old man as alleged attacks on students revealed
A boy allegedly involved in an attack on an elderly man outside his home fails to show in court, as prosecutors tell a court he attacked two children at his school weeks later.
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Terence Kelly's sentence for abducting four-year-old Cleo Smith excessive, appeal court told
Terence Kelly's mental impairments, including severe personality dysfunction, contributed to his decision to abduct four-year-old Cleo Smith from her family's tent, his lawyers tell a WA court as they try to get his jail term reduced.
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Killer rapist who took lives of pregnant mum and toddler son set to be freed from jail
Kingsley Pickett, who killed pregnant mother Margaret Blurton and her baby son in a 1991 high-speed crash and earned a reputation as WA's worst serial offender, is being released on a supervision order.
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Italian restaurant owner on trial over string of alleged sexual assaults on women across Perth
Alberto Nicoletti, the former owner and manager of an Italian restaurant in Como, has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges for a series of alleged sexual assaults.
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WA school teacher jailed for sexual abuse of teenage student after messaging on Snapchat
Nicholas Visser first contacted the girl on the social media app Snapchat, then told an internal school investigation the friend request was a mistake he made after a night of drinking.
Perth man killed his mother for her life insurance money, prosecutors will allege
Prosecutors tell a court Andre Rebelo was in financial strife and murdered his mother to gain access to her money.
Charges dropped against man accused of causing fire which destroyed 86 homes in Perth hills
By Joanna Menagh and Kenith Png
The case against the man accused of causing the devastating Wooroloo bushfires - which destroyed more than 80 homes - has been dropped. .
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Perth court hears details of 'frenzied' attack in which one man was killed, two others injured
Bailey Jordan Lester was under the influence of methamphetamine and GHB when he stabbed a man to death in a suburban home last year.
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Man behind unprovoked backpacker knife attack found not guilty of attempted murder on insanity grounds
Liaqat Ali Zahidi will remain in custody after being found not guilty of attempting to murder a man at a East Perth hostel, with the Supreme Court hearing the 30-year-old was of unsound mind at the time.
'Murder-suicide plan' revealed in court as high school stabbing offender pleads guilty to upgraded charge
The Perth Children's Court hears the decision to upgrade the charge was made after more evidence was gathered, including the examination of a diary written by the offender.
Court sees distressing footage of unprovoked stabbing attack at Perth backpackers hostel
Confronting footage of an unprovoked and knife attack inside at an East Perth back packers hostel is played to the WA Supreme Court, as the man responsible argued he was not of sound mind at the time.
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Western Power fined $80,000 for causing devastating Wheatbelt bushfire
A court has heard a state-owned electricity company knew about issues that led to a large bushfire for a decade before the blaze. It also heard it would have taken two days to fix them.
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Station operators fined $50k over the death of 1,000 cattle suffering from neglect
Operators of a station in WA's Pilbara will be forced to pay a $50,000 fine over the death of 1,000 cattle suffering from neglect.
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Axe attacker admits attempting to murder federal MP Kate Chaney's sister at Perth medical clinic
A 55-year-old man who attacked Anna Chaney with an axe in September at the North Perth medical clinic where she worked, after stalking her for years, pleads guilty in court.
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Perth karate instructor jailed for sexually abusing teenage student
A senior Perth karate instructor who sexually abused a teenage student and then threatened to kill her if she reported it to police, is sentenced to eight years jail.
Predator used school newsletters to plan pool visits so he could record naked children, court told
A 24-year-old Perth man who frequented two northern suburbs leisure centres so he could repeatedly make indecent recordings of young children in the change rooms is jailed.
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Perth parents slam fines against two companies over son's death at mine site
Michael Johnson died in 2020 at the Whirling Dervish mine, 120 kilometres from Kalgoorlie, after he fell 25 metres in a vehicle.
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Man admits 'sextortion' blackmailing of hundreds of young girls while pretending to be teenage social media celebrity
A Perth man, who is already in jail for sexually abusing a teenage girl, pleads guilty to almost 120 charges of the online "sextortion" of hundreds of girls from around the world.
Company charged over death of apprentice on Curtin University site denies failings
Construction management company Stantec pleads not guilty in a Perth court to failing to ensure the safety of apprentice Jonnie Hartshorn, who died when a glass roof collapsed at a Curtin University building site.
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'I saw a car coming': Mother on trial for causing a crash that killed her daughter, stepson
Careless driving-accused Stacey Leigh Cunningham has fought back tears as Perth Magistrates Court hears details of the crash that killed her daughter and stepson in 2020.
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Grandson of former WA premier among trio jailed over plot to import 99kg of meth hidden in latex pillows
Three Perth men, including the grandson of a former West Australian premier, are each sentenced to more than 13 years in jail over a plot to import methamphetamine worth up to $159 million into the country.
Bus passenger who 'violated dignity of passengers' jailed over 30 minute lewd act
The man, who likely has Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, committed the lewd acts on the bus in broad daylight, which the judge said violated the dignity of all passengers on board.
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