Sound Telegraph’s Year in Review

2021 was yet another crazy COVID year and news certainly did not fall short in Rockingham and Kwinana.

The Sound Telegraph has dived into the archive to find five of 2021’s biggest stories.

Our first stop takes us back to May when police claimed a kill order had been authorised by Mongols bikies against members of rival group Rock Machine who allegedly shot up a Port Kennedy home in March.

The information came to light in Rockingham Magistrate’s Court after an alleged Rock Machine member involved in the attack applied for bail

Derek Joshua Yardley, 32, appeared via videolink from Hakea prison, charged with criminal damage and with intent to harm and endanger the life, health and safety of another.

Read more about the story here.

Baldivis residents living along Stakehill Road were at breaking point after their calls for a new road were dismissed, despite multiple serious crashes.

Stakehill Road was mostly used by local residents until 2010 when it was turned into one of the main access points to the freeway. Janice Harwood, who lives near the road, said since then it had never been updated to accommodate the increased traffic.

For resident Mark Threlfall and his family, the design of the road has resulted in sleepless nights and the fear a car could come round a bend notorious for crashes, lose control and crash into their home.

In April this fear almost became reality, when a car crashed through two of their front hedges, before coming to a stop on their verge.

Read the story here.

In October a group of women from Tuart Lakes Lifestyle Village proved that age is just a number by getting their kit off and raising more than $11,000 for Breast Cancer Network Australia.

The women rallied together over happy hour drinks and came up with the idea to make a calendar and raise money for a cause close to their hearts.

The photographs were taken free of charge by local photographer Sandra Ramsay and featured the women relaxing or undertaking everyday activities like playing lawn bowls, swimming and enjoying afternoon tea.

Read the story here.

Next, a court story was revived in November when a Port Kennedy man who beat and dragged his girlfriend by the scruff of her hair into oncoming traffic in 2018, was jailed after he attacked her again.

In 2018, after the two got into an argument on the way home from Princess Margaret Hospital, Bradley Shane Hart struck the victim in the face and she fell over and curled up into a ball as he continued to “punch and kick her”.

During the attack, the victim passed out and Hart grabbed her by the “scruff of her hair” and dragged her into oncoming traffic on Thomas Road in Kwinana.

He was sentenced to 16 months in prison, backdated to July 30, and is eligible for parole.

Read the story here.

Finally, to finish off the list, we couldn’t go past the heartbreaking story of little Mayson Jennings who got burnt by a cup of hot tea and didn’t receive proper first aid from the daycare centre he was at.

The mother of little Mayson, who was left with severe burns from the accident, said it took more than 10 minutes for the daycare to call an ambulance, leaving her son in agony.

Bluebird Early Learning Centre in Cooloongup was fined $25,000 for the incident.

Read more here.