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Staker seeing double with Lions move

March 25, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

For former West Coast Eagle Brent Staker, the more things change with his “ruthless” move to Brisbane, the more they stay the same.

Staker, set to make his Lions debut against his old AFL club on Saturday night, feels he has not moved house let alone shifted from one side of the country to the other.

The 25-year-old is sharing digs with Troy Selwood, the identical twin of his long-time Perth housemate Adam Selwood.

Not only do the brothers look the same, but they sound the same and act the same.

“It’s different city, different house, same bloke,” Staker said.

“They’re very similar characters. They have the same sense of humour, the same laugh.

“You get out of bed in the morning and you don’t miss a beat, you feel like you’re back in Perth.”

While Troy will miss the round one clash at the Gabba following an injury-affected preseason, Adam will be a significant member of the improving Eagles midfield.

“It’s funny in the end that Stakes ended up going to Brisbane,” Adam said.

“It’s a bit strange how he moved from one Selwood to the other – I don’t think any girls have done that.”

With Selwood well-versed in opposing close mates – playing against Troy at Brisbane and younger brother Joel at Geelong – he felt he held the personal advantage.

“It’s good coming up against good friends and I’ve had it a bit coming up against my brothers,” he said.

“So it might feel a bit more weird for him.”

One of six seasoned Lions recruits, Staker has quickly settled in at the Lions since moving in October and will play as a third tall beside Jonathan Brown and Brendan Fevola.

The 196 centimetre-tall utility, who was restricted to just six senior games in 2009 due to hand injuries, admitted it was a tough call for him to leave the Eagles but asked for a trade a year before his contract expired to shore up his future.

“I had to make a ruthless decision and that’s what I made,” he said.

Lions coach Michael Voss has not asked for much insight into West Coast from Staker but the new recruit was happy to voice his opinion with the Eagles’ defensive match-ups.

According to Staker, Darren Glass will take Fevola, Eric Mackenzie will be on Brown and either Matt Spangher or Brett Jones will line up on himself.

But he warned rivals will struggle to contain “twin towers” Brown and Fevola all season due to their flexibility in the forward 50.

“I think that’s the exciting part of it, it’s not predictable,” he said.

“It’s going to be a headache for many teams, because one week they will do this but the next week they will do two different things.

“Every game will change, every minute.”

-AAP

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Afl Club, bloke, Brother Joel, different city, Digs, Gabba, Geelong, good friends, hand injuries, housemate, Jonathan Brown, Lions Coach, mates, Michael Voss, Personal Advantage, perth, Seeing Double, Selwood, Senior Games, sense of humour

Taxi driver in court over toddler’s death

March 10, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

A 23-year-old man has made a brief appearance in the Melbourne Magistrates Court charged over the death of three-year-old Gurshan Singh.

Taxi driver Gursewak Dhillon, a housemate of Gurshan Singh’s parents, is charged with manslaughter by criminal negligence.

Police allege he placed the unconscious boy in the boot of his car then drove around for three hours before dumping him near Melbourne Airport.

Dhillon made no application for bail and will return to court in June.

Meanwhile, the boy’s parents hope to find out today when they will be able to take their son’s body home to India.

Family friend and local councillor Tim Singh Laurence says the boy’s parents are coping as well as can be expected.

“They’re mainly focused, of course, on taking their child back to India to conduct ceremonies in accordance with Sikh faith in the Punjab, with their relatives,” he told ABC Radio’s Bruce Guthrie.

He said the Indian community in the northern suburbs is largely made up of truck drivers and taxi drivers.

Eleven people, including Dhillon, were living at the Lalor house at the time of the boy’s death.

Councillor Laurence said it is a very trusting community and it is normal for people to share their homes.

“So this is a blow because this person wasn’t known to them, sharing the house, and has breached their trust in such a terrible way.”

Police appeal

Meanwhile, police are seeking public help to find a woman who may have further information about the boy’s death.

They believe the woman may have stopped to help a motorist driving a dark green VT or VN Commodore somewhere in Melbourne’s northern suburbs between noon and 3:00pm last Thursday.

It is believed Dhillon was driving a vehicle in the northern suburbs before it ran out of fuel.

Police believe the woman may have assisted Dhillon by driving him to the service station.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: abc radio, appearance, Criminal Negligence, family friend, Guthrie, Home To India, housemate, last thursday, local councillor, manslaughter, melbourne airport, melbourne magistrates court, northern suburbs, old man, Punjab, relatives, taxi driver, Taxi Drivers, Truck Drivers, Vn Commodore

Indian toddler Gurshan Singh’s father has no idea about his tragic death

March 6, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Melbourne, Mar 6(ANI): Murdered three-year-old Indian boy Gurshan Singh’s father has said that he has no idea what happened to his son.

Gurshan’s body was found near Melbourne Airport on Thursday night, about 30 kilometers from where the toddler disappeared from a house in Lalor six hours earlier.

As the homicide detectives are continuing to investigate his disappearance and death, Harjit Singh Channa said his little boy was a sweet child whose loss had plunged the family into grief.

His parents have also made a statement at the Victoria crime squad”s office about what they knew of the tragic events.

“I don”t know what happened yesterday. My wife was bathing. The other lady in the house she was washing the clothes. She did not hear any sound and thought, ”Where is the baby?”” The Herald Sun quoted Channa, as saying.

Channa spoke lovingly of his little boy, who had been ill before his death.

“My child has gone missing. We are in grief. Very good, my son. Very sweet, my son. He always asked questions, ”What is this? What is this?”” he added.

The last known evidence of Gurshan being alive came from a housemate, who said he was screaming after Channa left the house to visit a nearby library.

Victoria Police Detective Inspector Steve Clark said police had interviewed many witnesses, but were “desperate” to hear from more.

“There”s a range of further forensic tests that need to be conducted and we”re awaiting those results,” Clark said.

Meanwhile, Victorian Premier John Brumby said the best detectives and forensic investigators were working on the case, and that, if needed, Commonwealth resources would be called upon.

Brumby said he had assured the Indian high commissioner and the Indian community that no stone would be left unturned in the murder inquiry.

“Every single police resource will be devoted to this matter until it is resolved,” Brumby said. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Channa, Commonwealth Resources, Crime Squad, detective inspector, Forensic Investigators, Forensic Tests, herald sun, homicide detectives, housemate, indian high commissioner, john brumby, melbourne airport, Murder Inquiry, Nearby Library, police detective, Police Resource, Sweet Child, tragic death, Tragic Events, victoria police

I express deep condolences to Gurshan”s family, says Krishna

March 5, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Mar 5 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Friday expressed his deep condolences to the family of three-year-old Indian boy Gurshan Singh, who was found dead after vanishing from his Melbourne holiday home on Thursday.

“The Australian investigating agencies have confirmed that there was no external injury on the body of the three-year toddler,” added Krishna.

Meanwhile, Indian community leaders in Australia have pleaded for calm during the murder investigation into the death of three-year-old Gurshan.

The boy”s body was found dumped by the side of a road in Melbourne.

The toddler had disappeared six hours earlier from his Lalor home, 30 kilometers away.

The boy”s mother, Harpreet Kaur Channa, was in the shower when the toddler disappeared from their home.

His father had gone to the library without the three-year-old, a housemate said.

Housemate Sim Kaur said she was at home with Channa when the boy went missing.

She said the boy had been screaming because his father had gone to the library without him.

“He stopped shouting and I thought what happened?” Kaur said.

She said his father had left for the library a few minutes earlier with another housemate.

“He was insisting to come as well, then the father refused and he started crying,” she said.

Kaur said the family would go to the library two or three times a day so they initially thought the toddler had tried to follow the father.

Gurshan was due to fly home to India with his family within the next few days. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: calm, Channa, community leaders, condolences, External Affairs Minister, few days, few minutes, fly, Harpreet Kaur, holiday home, Home To India, housemate, kilometers, krishna, Melbourne, murder investigation, New Delhi, sim, six hours, three times

Three-year-old Indian boy’s autopsy fails to reveal cause of death: Victoria Police

March 5, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Melbourne, Mar 5(ANI): Victoria Police has said that an autopsy of three-year-old Indian boy Gurshan Singh, who was found dead after vanishing from his Melbourne home on Thursday has not been determined.

Victoria Police Detective Inspector Steve Clark said Gurshan’s body had no injury signs.

“There has been an autopsy conducted and, as I say, a range of forensic testing needs to be carried out,” News.com.au quoted Clark, as saying.

Homicide detectives are leading the investigation, which has been classified as a suspicious death.

A local council worker found Gurshan’s body, 30 kilometers from where he was last seen at a relative”s home in Lalor.

Clark further said that the authorities would let the victim”s family see the body for formal identification.

According to Rupinda Hans, the boy’s cousin, police had not let the family identify the body. They didn”t even know for certain if the body was that of Gurshan.

“The police told us when it was night that in the morning we will identify baby”s body, but still, what is the time and nobody come here and help us,” Hans said.

“We are living in international country. We don’t know who we have to consult. They told us, they found one body. If they’re saying this, they should show us for identifying,” she added.

The boy’s mother, Harpreet Kaur Channa, was in the shower when the toddler disappeared from their home.