He's hung around kids all his life

Penis pictures sent from stolen phones
Steve Butcher
September 8, 2010

A serial burglar who photographed his penis with mobile phones he stole — and then sent the images to some owners' friends — told police after his arrest he'd been "off me head for a while".

Shane Anthony Willis, 33, sent the photos via MMS to unsuspecting, innocent and horrified victims that included teenage girls.

The victim of one phone theft, a student at a Melbourne private school, was reported to his Year 11 head teacher after the recipient, an angry friend, received an image.

Melbourne Magistrates Court yesterday heard the student, 17, whose parents were contacted by the school, was further humiliated and embarrassed when he learned others were sent the photo.

After Willis avoided arrest in February by jumping from a second-storey window, detectives found a large amount of stolen property in the North Fitzroy house.

In a police summary tendered in court by prosecutor Michael Robinson, investigators realised during a search of the house that Willis had taken photos of his penis inside those premises and sent the images to various contacts whose details were stored inside the stolen phones.

The background of some of the images was of the premises, including curtains and a TV, and when Willis' three-month crime spree ended last April with his arrest in Bendigo, he was asked to comment.

He replied: "Don't know about that."

"I've been off me head for a while ... so ... on drugs, so I couldn't tell you what I've done."

He admitted he had been "running amok" and doing "stupid things".

During the mostly no-comment interview, Willis consented to police taking photos of his penis.

Willis' brazen burglaries and thefts — committed during the evening, night or early morning, with people mostly awake in their homes — netted him property valued at more than $83,000.

The items also included cash, credit cards, jewellery and computers, and once at the Como Cricket Club change rooms he stole seven mobile phones and 13 wallets owned by 14 players, including umpires, during a match.

"The impact on all of the victims was quite profound, leaving them feeling violated and vulnerable as many victims had children inside the houses at the time ..." the summary said.

The crimes were committed in suburbs that included North Carlton, Balaclava, South Yarra, St Kilda and surrounding areas.

Defence lawyer Chester Metcalfe said Willis, who pleaded guilty to more than 60 charges that included aggravated burglary, theft and using a carriage service to menace, would not apply for bail.

Magistrate Donna Bakos remanded him in custody for a plea hearing in the County Court in November.

Defence lawyer Chester Metcalfe

New Zealanders are moving to Australia in record numbers, but they arrive already educated and end up working on average harder and longer than Australians, a government study says.

Far from being a drain on the country's education system and social services, the wave of migrants from across the Tasman is proving to be older, professional and focused on work, says an Australian Bureau of Statistics report released on Wednesday.

Last year, the more than 500,000 New Zealanders living here had higher rates of employment and were more likely to be working full-time than fellow Australians, aged 15 to 64.

About 90 percent of Kiwi men have jobs compared to 83 percent of Australian men, the report says, while the percentage of Kiwis working full-time far surpasses the rate of Australians by 10 percent.

Many men end up working in construction and manufacturing while women take up jobs in health care or retail.

Of those working in the health field, 37 percent of Kiwi women are working professional-level jobs.

Over the past two decades, the Kiwi population here has exploded by 89 percent with 529,200 living in Australia by 2009, according to September 2010 Australian Social Trends report.

New Zealand is the second-largest contributor to Australia's overseas-born population, behind only the United Kingdom, with more than 13,000 people moving here every year.

While some come here for only a few years and return home, the majority have been living here for more than a decade and are now part of a rapidly aging population.

Queensland has become the state of choice for New Zealanders - they are twice as likely as the overall population to live in Brisbane. Some suburbs around Surfers Paradise are bursting, with one in 10 residents being New Zealand-born.

But those who now stay long-term are focused on work, not school.

Since both Kiwis and Australians have the same rate of attaining post-secondary qualifications and far fewer Kiwis living here attend school, the report concludes that Kiwis "have a tendency to complete their studies prior to migrating to Australia".

Kiwis tend to have different skill sets as well with a higher rate of advanced diplomas (39 percent) over Australians (34 percent).

Recent years of migration have seen a seven percent increase in the number of New Zealanders arriving here having already completed a bachelor degree or higher.

40cm penis tattooed on man's back
Peter Foley | 26th October 2010

A 21-YEAR-OLD Bundamba man will front court after he allegedly tattooed an unwanted lewd image and slogan on his mate’s back.

Police allege the man, who was not a professional tattooist, talked his friend into having the tattoo while the friend was visiting him at home.

After the 25-year-old victim got home, he was horrified to discover the tattoo was far from what he expected.

Instead of a Yin and Yang symbol with some dragons, the tattoo featured a 40cm-long image of a penis and a slogan implying he was gay. He contacted police and they charged the 21-year-old Bundamba man with assault occasioning bodily harm.

The tattoo victim now faces the pain and expense of having the tattoo removed with a laser.

Police allege the tattooing followed a disagreement between the pair that culminated with the Bundamba man taking offence at something the victim said.

Ipswich CIB Detective Constable Paul Malcolm said the victim was extremely upset.

“Apparently he went round to the other bloke’s house and somehow in the course of the conversation the subject of tattoos came up,” Const Malcolm said.

“The victim wasn’t interested at first but he was talked into it and he said he wanted a Yin and Yang symbol with some dragons.

“He rolled him on to his stomach and the bloke started doing the tattoo and there was another bloke standing there watching saying, ‘Mate, it’s looking really good’.

“He was told not to go out into the sun and not to show anyone for a few weeks.

“When he got home he showed it to the person he lives with and she said: ‘I don’t think it’s the tattoo you were after’.”

To add insult to injury, he was allegedly punched and thrown out of the Bundamba man’s house after he was tattooed.

The 21-year-old is scheduled to appear in Ipswich Magistrates Court on November 15.

He was charged with two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm and one charge relating to the Public Safety Act.

Gatton tattoo artist Ted Saddo said the tattooed man could face a bill from $600 to $2000 to have the tattooed removed.

“If they don’t want the tattoo or another tattoo to cover it up, it would have to be lasered,” Mr Saddo said. “That involves shooting a laser beam into the tattoo to break up the ink, which goes into the blood stream and is passed out through the kidneys.

“If it’s just an outline it would probably take three sessions of about $200 a session. There needs to be a six to eight week break between sessions to give the skin the chance to heal. We just had a bloke here who got a tribal tattoo removed and it cost him $2000.”