news

Tuesday's news in 5 minutes.

1. Mum who dumped her newborn baby in a hospital bin avoids jail.

A 27-year-old mother has been spared jail after she abandoned her newborn baby boy in a UK hospital bin, where he almost suffocated to death, BBC reports.

Orsolya-Anamaria Balogh pleaded guilty to attempted infanticide and was given 12 months community service by Liverpool Crown Court.

Balogh’s baby boy was found by hospital cleaning staff with his umbilical cord cut and with tissues in his mouth. She had been admitted to Royal Albert Edward Infirmary with abdominal pain and told staff there was no possibility she was pregnant.

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The court heard the woman entered a hospital toilet cubicle at around 8:30pm, remaining there for almost two hours.

Judge Beil Flewitt GC revealed the baby was a “dusky blue colour” when he was found.

“It was the opinion of medical staff at the hospital that if the baby had not been found when he had he would have died,” he said.

“Thankfully the baby not only survived but is also now thriving.”

Psychiatric reports show the mother was in denial about her pregnancy and was “dissociating” from the experience.

“There is no doubt that your culpability is significantly reduced, albeit not extinguished, by reason of the fact that at the relevant time the balance of your mind was disturbed by the effect of giving birth,” the judge said.

2. “You killed my little boy”: Family lashes out at man charged over toddler’s hit-and-run death.

Michael Craig Bullock has been charged over the death of two-year-old Zane Colson, who was hit by a car outside his Adelaide home on Sunday, 7 News reports.

Neighbours tried to revive the boy – who was a twin – with CPR for about 10 minutes until the ambulance arrived, but he died at the scene.

The 52-year-old has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.

The boy’s grandfather began yelling as Bullock stood handcuffed at Adelaide Magistrates Court, the Adelaide Advertiser reports.

“You killed my grandson motherf***er and you’re letting him out on bail? Get f***ed,” he yelled.

“You killed my grandson, you killed my little boy, you’re dead son…Motherf***ing dog, he gets out and I’ll kill him myself.”

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Family and friends have paid tribute to the two-year-old, who had a “warrior’s strength spirit”.

“His cheekiness and the most…infectious smile, his loving energy filled the room and the hearts that had the privilege to be a part of his world,” a statement from the family said.

“His big twin sister and five other siblings will forever cherish his spirit. He’s gone to heaven far too soon.”

3. At least four people dead after avalanche at French Alps ski resort.

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At least four people have been killed and five are missing after a massive avalanche swept through a ski resort in the French Alps.

Nine News reports that the avalanche was 400m wide and was apparently set off by a group of skiers higher up on the mountain at Tignes ski resort.

A rescue official said a search was currently underway for five skiers who were still missing from a group of nine.

Two of the four people that died were found alive, but passed away shortly after being rescued.

The avalanche is the deadliest since the start of winter in the French Alps.

4. Police fear man accused of raping and kidnapping a Belgian backpacker may have more victims.

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Police have asked for the location where a 24-year-old Belgian backpacker was allegedly abducted and raped to be a kept a secret in case other victims come forward, the Adelaide Advertiser reports.

The Adelaide Magistrates Court was told to suppress visual depictions of the Meningie farmhouse to “safeguard ongoing investigations” into the incident.

“There is a belief that there may be other victims that may come forward,” Brevet Sergeant Natasha Goode said.

“The investigation is alive. Obtaining evidence from the defendant’s premises is still ongoing.”

A 52-year-old man has been charged with rape and unlawful detention after police allege he held a European backpacker against her will after she posted an ad on website Gumtree looking for work.

5. Man accused of deliberately lighting fires in NSW ‘wanted to impress his four-year-old son’.

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A 32-year-old man accused of deliberately lighting two fires on the NSW Mid North Coast has told a court he wanted to show his young son fire trucks in action.

Ricky Kenneth Ballard-Lestrange, a former firefighter, said he knew the fires would “go stupid” during the heatwave but lit them anyway, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The Taree Local Court heard Ballard-Lestrange lit the fires in front of his two young children. When he was arrested by police he told them his four-year-old “loved fire trucks and wanted to see them in action”, according to Seven News.

The temperature was 47.5 degrees when he lit the blazes.

The man remains in custody and is due to appear in court again next week.

6. Two men charged after video of them allegedly kicking a quokka emerged on social media.

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Two men have been charged after they allegedly filmed and posted a video of themselves kicking a quokka on Rottnest Island.

The vision shows one of the men chasing the native marsupial around a tree before he kicks it.

The vision is believed to have been filmed in the front courtyard of a Rottnest house on Sunday,Seven News reports.

The men – aged 20 and 21 – were arrested as they tried to leave the popular tourist island and have been charged with cruelty to animals.

The quokka in the video has not been located and authorities are still unsure if it was injured during the cruel attack.

The men face up to five years in prison or a $50,000 find if they are convicted.

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