50 moments part 5: 2024 a year of sadness and courtroom madness

REBELO TRIAL It was the mammoth trial that had everyone talking. The self-declared crypto-trader with an Insta-famous ex-partner who killed his mother for her life insurance policies in a bid to keep up with his “plastic-fantastic” lifestyle. For seven weeks, West Aussies from all walks of life remained gripped as salacious details from the lives of Andre Rebelo and social media influencer Gracie Piscopo slipped out. Some of those details included the fact Rebelo and Ms Piscopo were up to their eyeballs in debt around the time of his mother’s murder – a far cry from the world they presented online. Before the trial began, Rebelo admitted her forged his mother’s will, a coroner’s signature and took out three life insurance policies the week before his mother death. But he denied he killed her. But a jury did not believe him. He is due to be sentenced in April. SAM KERR IS CHARGED Shockwaves spread across the globe when it emerged Sam Kerr had been charged over a late night incident in London. Kerr is accused of racially harassing a police officer — identified as PC Stephen Lovell — when he was called to diffuse a dispute over a taxi fare outside Twickenham Police Station in South West London on January 30 last year. It is alleged the West Australian called the cop a “stupid white bastard” or “stupid white cop”. The 30-year-old was allegedly sick in the back of the cab following a night out when police were called. She then allegedly made the remark. Almost a year after the incident, she was charged with using insulting, threatening or abusive words that caused alarm or distress to the officer. Kerr is due to face trial in a London court in February. LIAM PAYNE DIES IN ARGENTINA Directioners were left devastated after news broke former One Direction heartthrob Liam Payne had fallen to his death from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires in October. The 31-year-old — famous for his singles For You and Strip That Down — tragically died after falling from a third-storey balcony at the Casa Sur Hotel. A preliminary toxicology report found Payne had a cocktail of drugs including “pink cocaine” in his system at the time of his death. White powder, crystals, tablets and other paraphernalia were also discovered in his hotel suite. Argentinian prosecutors later confirmed three people had been charged in connection to Payne’s death, including a hotel employee accused of supplying him with cocaine. Payne is survived by his seven-year-old son, Bear, who he shared with British singer Cheryl Cole, his parents, Geoff and Karen, and sisters. WILLETTON KNIFE ATTACK Police shot dead a 16-year-old schoolboy who charged at them with a knife in the car park of Willetton Bunnings on the evening of May 4. It had all the hallmarks of a terrorist attack. The teen, James, had just stabbed an innocent man moments before his death. A taser failed to stop him. He was a Rossmoyne Senior High School student who told people he was on the “path to jihad” after being radicalised online. WA Police have ordered an evaluation into their own de-radicalisation program, which the boy was a part of two years before his death. Parents at the school raised concerns about the boy’s behaviour with the education department before his death. BRITISH DJ FRED AGAIN.. TAKES OVER LANGLEY PARK The elusive British music producer brought the buzz around his potential WA showing to a fever pitch in March when leaving cryptic Instagram teasers and letters to Langley Park residents. Eventually announcing his Aussie tour “must end in Perth”, local music fans scrambled to secure a ticket to what was hyped as an unmissable experience delivered by one of the world’s most mysterious DJs. Hosting 35,000 people along the Swan River days later, Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas practically gave Fred the keys to the city when allowing the producer to increase his concert’s decibel limit beyond the city’s noise restrictions. And it was worth it. LEHRMANN-HIGGINS SAGA After his 2022 criminal trial was aborted due to juror misconduct, Bruce Lehrmann scored an own goal with his defamation case against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson. In April, Federal Court Justice Michael Lee ruled, on the balance of probabilities, that Mr Lehrmann raped his former colleague Brittany Higgins at Parliament House in 2019. The judge also found that the other claim in the Network Ten story, of a political cover-up involving their former boss Senator Linda Reynolds and others, was not true. That was seized on by the outgoing politician as she addressed media outside her own defamation case against Ms Higgins, who did not testify at the civil trial in Perth. It ran for most of August and wrapped up in September, with a verdict yet to be handed down. FORMER DOCKER CAM MCCARTHY DIES The most emotional day of the AFL season came when Fremantle players choked back tears on the field before their match against Sydney at Optus Stadium, just hours after learning of the death of former teammate and friend Cam McCarthy. Alex Pearce and Nat Fyfe were distraught during the moment of silence and laid flowers in the goal square after the game in a tribute to the key forward. McCarthy was only 29 years old and his death was felt throughout the entire AFL community. McCarthy played 70 AFL games for both Fremantle and Greater Western Sydney. ADAM SIMPSON IS SACKED West Coast premiership coach Adam Simpson survived the team finishing last in 2023 and when the team beat Fremantle and Melbourne in the first half of the 2024 season, excitement was building among Eagles fans. But a 99-point loss to Adelaide, getting beaten at home by the winless North Melbourne and then two more big defeats left the spotlight firmly on Simpson. He asked CEO Don Pyke if there was any way he’d be coaching in 2025 and received a negative reply, which ended his time in charge. Simpson farewelled fans after tossing the coin before the next game against Brisbane. WA KIDS FAILED BY THE MEDICAL SYSTEM The death of toddler Sandipan Dhar at Joondalup Health Campus triggered a review, but Ramsay Health Care maintained his care was acceptable despite claims his parents’ concerns were not taken seriously. The 21 month old died of leukemia, days after a blood test was refused despite a GP’s recommendation. Another grieving family complained they were not consulted, during a review into their son’s death in utero at Joondalup. Baby Amir died sometime during a five-hour period, after mother Al Hulow was induced. She said she was not monitored. And a 10 year old girl’s snake bite was misdiagnosed as cellulitis. She was sent home from Joondalup without a blood test. Instead, Olivia’s mother drove her to Perth Children’s Hospital where staff confirmed she’d been bitten by a tiger snake. In Olivia’s case, there was an “unreserved acknowledgement of a series of errors” and Ramsay Health Care has vowed to improve paediatric emergency services. HORROR ROAD TOLL It seemed like most days this year there was a headline about another life lost on WA’s roads. With one day of the year left, the road toll sits at 182 — the highest number of road deaths since 2016. Among the fatalities this year was 18-year-old Nick Campo, who was killed when the car he was a passenger in crashed in North Lake in July. A 17-year-old boy has been charged with manslaughter over his death, amid allegations he was driving at speeds of 135km/h before the crash. His death, along with others, prompted the Cook Government to call an emergency road safety summit. New rules for provisional drivers then followed. They included passenger limits for those on red P-plates.