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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
Perth father sentenced to 11 years in jail for killing his 'helpless little baby' by violently shaking her
Juan Daniel Visagie, who has a history of domestic violence offences, is sentenced to 11 years in jail for killing his baby daughter.
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Man charged with 1986 murder of Perth mother Sharon Fulton says he will fight charge
A Perth court has been told a 77-year-old man will maintain he is innocent of murdering a woman who vanished in Perth almost 40 years ago.
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Convicted fraudster faces jail time after admitting ripping off remote Aboriginal community
Former Department of Housing contractor Craig Robert Dale pleads guilty to defrauding the remote Kimberley community of Warmun to the tune of $2.7 million.
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Perth father to serve 24 years for 'horrific, distressing' child abuse 'of the worst category'
As the girl's family watched on in court, her father was sentenced to a lengthy period in prison for "horrific" offences the judge says she has never seen before. WARNING: This story contains upsetting details.
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Woman avoids jail for cattle rustling in outback Western Australia
Rachael Third, 40, has avoided jail time over her part in the theft of more than 800 cattle in Western Australia's Gascoyne region during 2020.
Perth father who killed baby daughter in 'moment of madness' had domestic violence convictions
A Perth man who fatally injured his 28-day old daughter had previous convictions for assaulting a former partner, a court hears.
IT engineer who worked in WA schools jailed for making indecent recordings of students
An IT engineer who worked in schools across Perth is jailed for making indecent recordings of students and downloading thousands of videos and images of children at school activities.
Church member who believed homosexuality to be a sin found guilty of molesting seven men
Morris Leonard Deale has been found guilty of multiple indecent assaults that occurred over a number of years in Western Australia.
'You're out of line': Police officer jailed after assaulting woman during violent arrest
A Perth police officer is sentenced to two years in jail for assaulting a woman during an arrest in which she was forced to the ground, dragged across the floor and kicked in the foot.
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'Thrill kill' or act of mercy? Motive in dispute after aged care worker admitted murdering elderly resident
Jacob Hoysted murdered Monica Stockdale at an aged care facility last year, but lawyers disagree about his reasons for doing so.
Elderly man faces court 37 years after allegedly murdering Perth mother Sharon Fulton
A 77-year-old man who cannot be identified for legal reasons is charged by police in Western Australia with the murder of Sharon Fulton, who vanished in 1986 and whose body has never been found.
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One of Cassius Turvey's accused murderers may face fresh charge amid 'new evidence', court hears
Prosecutors are considering laying a new charge against one of the four people accused of murdering Perth schoolboy Cassius Turvey, the WA Supreme Court is told.
Alleged skipper in boat crash that killed West Coast Eagles player's mother denies manslaughter
The man charged with manslaughter over the fatal boat crash that killed both his wife and the mother of West Coast Eagles player Rhett Bazzo pleads not guilty to the crime.
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WA mother denies murdering 14-month old baby Jace at family home
Sara Jade McCullock pleads not guilty to murdering her baby son at the family's home in the southern Perth suburb of Madora Bay.
'Monster': Man jailed for horrifying 1992 knifepoint rape of neighbour as two-year-old slept nearby
A 48-year-old man is jailed for the "chilling" and "horrifying" rape at knifepoint of his neighbour 31 years ago as she begged him not to harm her toddler daughter.
Church member molested young men as they slept after they had been drinking, Perth court hears
By Joanna Menagh and Georgia Loney
A man who was raised to believe "homosexuality was against God's law" is accused of sexually abusing 10 young men over an eight year period in regional WA, a Perth court hears.
'Catastrophic' fall: Former WA MP James Hayward jailed for child sex offences
A former WA MP is sentenced to almost three years in jail for sexually abusing a young girl, the same year he sought election to the state's upper house.
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Teenager charged with murder of woman in alleged Perth hit-and-run held in juvenile detention
A 17-year-old boy is ordered to stay in juvenile detention after being charged over an alleged hit-and-run that killed 48-year-old Rebecca Collard in Perth's north.
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'Never a bikie': Mother of slain Perth father slams media portrayals of son as man pleads guilty to his murder
The heartbroken mother of Joe Versace, murdered in what police called a "bikie-linked" shooting in Gnangara, pays tribute to her son after his killer makes a surprising confession of guilt.
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Forensic investigator ordered to pay $350,000 for defaming Lloyd Rayney loses appeal
A forensic investigator who was found to have defamed former Perth barrister Lloyd Rayney by suggesting he "murdered his wife and got away with it" fails in an appeal against the ruling.
Police allege teen murdered passer-by and stole his car after crashing own vehicle north of Perth
Benjamin Jack McLaughlin faces court charged with murdering a 38-year-old man whose body was discovered in a burnt-out four-wheel drive in Cervantes, hours before the 19-year-old was found naked on a boat.
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Charges over 13-year-old's alleged rape inside Perth Children's Hospital discontinued due to welfare concerns
By WA state political reporter James Carmody and Joanna Menagh
Charges against a teenage boy accused of raping a 13-year-old girl at Perth Children's Hospital were discontinued because of serious concerns about the safety and wellbeing of the alleged victim, it is revealed.
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Attempted murder, stalking charges for man accused of axe attack on Perth doctor
The 55-year-old man has appeared in court accused of attempting to murder the sister of federal MP Kate Chaney at the medical practice where she worked.
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Three men were 'cannon fodder' in plot to import 99kg of meth hidden in latex pillows, court hears
The men, including the grandson of a former WA Premier, were minor players in a plan to import $159 million worth of methamphetamine into Australia, a Perth court hears.
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