Headstones Vandalised in Suspected Hate Crime

BY OLIVIA DILLON 

Investigators are appealing for information after 10 headstones were vandalised in Maitland last week, in a suspected hate crime.

Port Stephens-Hunter Police officers were called to a cemetery on Louth Park Road in South Maitland last Tuesday 31st of January, and found 10 headstones had been spray-painted with a Nazi symbol.

A crime scene was established and a number of seized items will be forensically examined.

Police are urging anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.

UPDATE! Trio Arrested Over Alleged Armed Robbery At South Maitland

 BY IAN CROUCH

Police have arrested three people over an alleged armed robbery at South Maitland overnight.

Police say around 11.00pm on Wednesday, the trio walked into a service station on Les Darcy Drive and threatened a staff member with a knife, stealing several drinks before leaving.

Officers and the dog squad searched the area and found a group of males in a nearby park who fled when police arrived.

Two boys aged 16 and an 18-year-old man were arrested after a foot pursuit and taken to Maitland Police Station.

The 18-year-old has been charged with robbery armed with an offensive weapon and refused bail to appear at Maitland Local Court later today (Thursday 27 January 2022).

The two teenage boys were both released pending further inquiries.

 

Man Overcome By Smoke While Fighting Caravan Fire At South Maitland

 BY IAN CROUCH

A 40-year-old man has been treated for smoke inhalation after a caravan went up in flames at South Maitland.

Fire crews from Maitland and East Maitland were called to Anzac Street just before 7.00pm on Tuesday, arriving to find the caravan and annexe well alight.

It's taken them about an hour to douse the flames.

No-one was inside the caravan - Newcastle Fire Command say a man was overcome by smoke while trying to fight the fire before crews arrived.