A man was arrested and taken to Riverstone Police Station over allegations he was involved in the stabbing death of Kevin Kourtis in Riverstone earlier this year.

The unnamed 21-year-old man was arrested in his home at St Clair at around 8am today, following further inquiries from police.

This is the fifth suspect to be charged with the Greek Australians murder. A 20-year-old man and three boys – two aged 17 and one aged 16 – were previously charged and remain before the courts.

Read More: Greek man stabbed to death inside his Sydney home

Just after 12.30am on Sunday 24 May 2020, emergency services were called to a home on Langton Street, Riverstone, after reports a 39-year-old man had been fatally stabbed during a break-in.

Kevin Kourtis died from multiple stab wounds after five men allegedly stormed into his home in Riverstone just after midnight.

Two women, aged 34 and 43, were also at the Langton Street address when the alleged ambush occurred. The 34-year-old woman was also taken to hospital for treatment to minor injuries.

A crime scene was established by officers from Quakers Hill Police Area Command, which was examined by specialist officers from the Forensic Evidence and Technical Services Command.

Quakers Hill detectives, assisted by the Homicide Squad, commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the man’s murder.

He has been refused bail to appear at Blacktown Local Court later today (Wednesday 12 August 2020).

Inquiries are continuing.

Victoria on Wednesday recorded recorded 410 new cases and 21 new deaths – marking the state’s deadliest ever day.

Premier Daniel Andrews said the deaths confirmed on Wednesday were: Two women and a man in their 70s, six women and five men in their 80s, five men and a woman in their 90s and a woman in her 100s. The Premier added that 16 out of those 21 deaths can be linked to aged care outbreaks.

Mr Andrews says 476 aged care residents have been transferred from residential aged care to hospital due to coronavirus outbreaks.

Read More: St Basil’s face threat of legal action as Victoria announces 7 new deaths linked to aged care

“There’s a very significant challenge there each and every day,” he said.

“Whilst we’ve seen some stability come to some centres, some facilities that were in crisis, everybody is working together, everybody is very much focused on trying to stay ahead of this in these settings and not have a situation where we see a repeat of some of the really difficult, really difficult, and tragic scenes.”

Victoria’s virus toll has risen to 267 – with more than 100 deaths in the past week.

While today saw a devastating rate of deaths, Mr Andrews says there are positive signs in the data from the last week.

Read More: 725 new cases and 15 deaths recorded in Victoria as Australia suffers worst day since the pandemic began

“We have seen, if you look at the average over the last seven days, we are seeing the line come down,” he said.

“Ultimately, tonight at midnight marks one week of the most significant elements of the stage 4. So work places. That’s what really drives down movement. And certainly movement that’s much more connected to the transmission of this virus.”

Victorian Treasurer slammed over hotel quarantine management

Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas was slammed by Liberal MP Richard Riordan in a parliamentary committee meeting after being asked about the state’s hotel quarantine system.

Premier Daniel Andrews recently came out to say that he did not believe Australian Defence Force support was offered to help run Victoria’s hotel quarantine scheme, a remark that was disputed by Australia’s Defence Minister.

Nationals MP Danny O’Brien asked the Premier why the Government engaged private security when it set up the quarantine hotels, rather than police or Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel.

“I don’t believe ADF support was on offer,” Mr Andrews told the hearing.

“It’s been provided in limited circumstances in New South Wales, not to provide security as such but to provide transportation from the airport to hotels.

“I think it is fundamentally incorrect to assert that there was hundreds of ADF staff on offer and somehow someone said no. That’s not, in my judgement, accurate.”

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds rejected Mr Andrews’ claim that ADF personnel weren’t offered, saying, “the ADF was consistently advised that its assistance was not required for any ‘public facing roles’ in Victoria,” she said in a statement.

In the Parliamentary committee meeting last night, Richard Riordan, deputy chair of the parliamentary committee, asked Mr Pallas whether he was aware, as a member of Victoria’s crisis cabinet, of problems in hotel quarantine.

Saying he wouldn’t comment about the situation, due to an upcoming inquiry into the program, the Liberal MP proceeded to cut off the Treasurer mid-sentence.

“It was a yes or no, I don’t need to hear the whole ‘there’s a judicial inquiry’. Victorians have heard that for three weeks,” Mr Riordan said.

Mr Pallas proceeded to state that more than 100,000 pages of documents have been sent to the hotel quarantine inquiry. Yet, Mr Riordan wouldn’t take the answer, cutting him off again.

“OK Treasurer, I don’t need a lesson on inquiries,” he said.

Mr Bravos pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual intercourse without consent and has been on trial in the Darwin Supreme Court since July 27.

The charges relate to alleged events after a boozy emergency services ball in November 2004.

In his closing address to the jury, Crown prosecutor Nick Papas urged them to convict Mr Bravos on the two charges and accept the evidence of the complainant, The ABC reports.

“If you accept [the complainant’s] account, you can be satisfied she wasn’t consenting to sexual intercourse,” he said.

Read More: NSW police officer, James Delinicolis, charged with sexual assault, production of child abuse material

“If you accept her evidence, you’ll be able to draw a clear inference that he knew she wasn’t consenting, that she made it clear she didn’t want to have sex.”

The court was closed early in the trial while the complainant’s pre-recorded evidence was played to the jury, but parts of her evidence were read to the court during closing addresses.

“She says she wanted to call a taxi when she realised the wife and kids weren’t there,” Mr Papas said.

“She says that when they were in the pool, she refused the suggestion to go swimming naked, she says she stopped him from trying to kiss her.”

It is now 16 years since the alleged event, and Mr Papas told the jury “the passage of time” could impact people’s memories, as he pointed out several inconsistencies in the evidence presented over the past two weeks.

“I say you’d probably be surprised if after all these years, and bearing in mind it was a boozy night, people did have the same memory,” he said.

“You might doubt evidence that fits in exactly if people are recounting an event that occurred in 2004 after a night in drink.”

About 30 witnesses were called to give evidence throughout the trial.

Mr Bravos did not take the stand himself, but a 2016 interview he gave during an internal inquiry into the allegations was played to the court.

The court heard he did not dispute the fact he had sex with the complainant, but maintained it was “most definitely” consensual.

In his closing address, defence barrister John Lawrence brought up earlier evidence from a witness who said she and the alleged victim discussed the size of Mr Bravos’s “member”.

“That would make you think, I guess, that’s not the kind of thing women would talk about if it were rape,” he told the jury.

Peter Bravos resigned from the NT Police and applied for Greek citizenship prior to his trial in August last year. At a bail review in the Northern Territory Supreme Court at the same time, Crown Prosecutor Tamara Grealy said Peter Bravos was a flight risk after quitting his job with NT Police in June and should surrender his passport.

“Now that he’s no longer employed, it’s a significant tie to the Northern Territory that is no longer there,” Ms Grealy said.

“He’s got connections to outside of Australia.”

The jury is expected to begin deliberations tomorrow.

Sourced By: The ABC