Rare Commodore burnt in fire
A fire that broke out in a panel beater’s shed at Sunshine destroyed 10 cars, including a rare collectors’-edition Commodore. The fire blanketed the suburb in such dense smoke on November 9 that nearby residents were warned to stay indoors and keep their windows and doors shut. Seven Metropolitan Fire Brigade trucks were called to Hampton Avenue after the fire broke out in an iron shed of the backyard panel-beating business. MFB spokesman Trevor Woodward said the business owner, a man in his 60s, was using welding equipment when a spark ignited the shed about 12.14pm. The fire caused an estimated $300,000 in damage.
Man on murder count bailed
Thirteen people armed with baseball bats, metal poles, edged weapons and chains were involved in a home invasion at Deer Park on Australia Day, which left a 20-year-old man dead, a court was told last week. Prosecutor James Henderson told the Supreme Court during a bail application for Benjamin Borg, 19 – one of four men charged with murdering Michael Sleiman – that Mr Borg had been involved in planning the home invasion after a former girlfriend told him she had been raped by one of the occupants of the Deer Park house. Borg allegedly then co-opted his cousin, Adam Power, 23, a Rebels outlaw motorcycle gang member, to help. Justice Cameron Macaulay bailed Mr Borg on strict conditions. He is due back in court for a committal mention this week.
