Griffith man's convictions annulled, bail granted

A Griffith man had his convictions annulled and was granted conditional bail following a statewide domestic violence, drugs and firearms operation in April.

Colin McGee, 22, and two other Griffith men were arrested along with 641 people across NSW for various alleged offences as part of a four-day high-impact operation from 19 April to 22 April by NSW Police.

McGee faced Albury Local Court charged with being armed with intent to commit an indictable offence, stalking and intimidation, and contravening a prohibition/restriction for an apprehended violence order and was granted conditional bail.

When McGee failed to appear in court last month (9 May), Magistrate Sally McLaughlin convicted him in his absence and also issued a warrant.

The 22-year-old fronted Albury Local Court on 6 June where Magistrate Melissa Humphreys annulled his conviction and granted conditional bail.

McGee pleaded not guilty to the charge of failing to appear in accordance with bail acknowledgement.

Magistrate Humphreys granted McGee bail on the condition that he must report to Griffith Police Station once daily between 8 am to 8 pm Monday to Sunday.

McGee must live in Griffith and not be absent from his address between the hours of 8 pm to 6 am.

He must also comply with the following curfew enforcement conditions: to attend the front door of his address if told to do so by a police officer for the purpose of a curfew check no more than two times per day and no more than eight times per week.

McGee must not enter Albury or not go within 10 kilometres of the area except for the purposes of attending court.

He must also not go near or contact, or try to go near the complainant or any prosecution witness except through legal representatives.

And he must not drink alcohol or take drugs unless those drugs are prescribed by a doctor.

Magistrate Humphreys has set the next hearing date for 25 August.

Operation Amarok II, an intelligence-based policing strategy led by each region’s Domestic Violence High-Risk Offender Teams (DVHROT), involved officers from all police area commands and police districts in NSW, as well as various proactive and specialist units.

Following Operation Amarok II, 1108 charges were laid and, of those arrested, 314 were identified among NSW’s most dangerous domestic violence offenders and 164 of those had outstanding warrants for violent offences.

Over the four days, police engaged with high-risk domestic violence offenders on 1262 occasions, made 326 applications for apprehended domestic violence orders (ADVOs), served 460 outstanding ADVOs, and completed 4949 ADVO compliance checks and 1633 bail compliance checks.

Officers also applied for and served 45 new firearms prohibition orders (FPOs) and conducted 145 searches at properties linked to those who are subject to FPOs.