LAW and ORDER Police Snapshot Legal Matters

St Marys: Man charged with range of offences; will front court in May

An ongoing police investigation into a string of alleged shoplifting offences has led to the arrest of a 35-year-old St Marys man.

The man attended St Marys Police Station on Thursday, March 30 where he was placed under arrested.

He was charged with 12 offences including multiple charges of ‘Shoplifting’ and ‘Enter enclosed land not prescribed premises without lawful excuse’.

The man is next due to appear before Penrith Local Court on Friday, May 5.

Penrith: Man to face court after being busted driving while disqualified

A man has been charged after driving while disqualified in Penrith.

About 6pm on Friday, March 31, police observed a vehicle travelling northbound on Castlereagh Street, Penrith.

Police stopped the vehicle and the driver, a 20-year-old man, allegedly produced a NSW P2 Provisional driver’s licence.

Further enquiries revealed that the licence produced was disqualified.

The man was placed under arrest and taken to Penrith Police Station where he was charged with ‘Drive motor vehicle during disqualification period – second offence’. He will front Penrith Local Court on Thursday, April 20.

Kingswood: One man still on the run after foot chase

A man has been charged after he was caught driving a stolen vehicle in Kingswood.

About 11pm on Saturday, April 1, police saw a stolen motor vehicle travelling on the Great Western Highway, Kingswood.

The vehicle stopped on Santley Crescent, Kingwood before both occupants allegedly ran from officers on foot. Following a short foot pursuit police caught a 25-year-old man who was placed under arrest.

The man was charged and will appear at Blacktown Local Court on Tuesday, April 18. Investigations regarding the second occupant of the vehicle are ongoing.

Cambridge Park: Man arrested after pointing laser at aircraft

A man has been charged after interfering with a PolAir aircraft in Cambridge Park.

About 1am on Sunday, April 2, an aircraft attached to the NSW Police Force Aviation Command was patrolling above Cambridge Park.

A green laser was directed at the aircraft interfering with the crew onboard as they were performing their duties. A short time later police attended an address in Cambridge Park and arrested a 27-year-old man.

During a search of the property officers allegedly located a powerful laser pointer, a number of prohibited weapons and unlawfully obtained items.

The male was taken to Penrith Police Station and charged with several offences including ‘Do act to threaten safety of aircraft/persons on board’, ‘Possess of use a prohibited weapon without permit’, ‘Possess unauthorised prohibited firearm’ and ‘Assault police officer in execution of duty’.

The man will face court on April 12.

We do lots of conveyancing (surprise, surprise, the clue was in the name).

We often have to talk to people about things like rights of carriageway, restrictions as to user and easements.

These are essentially technical legal terms that describe a situation where a landowner has formally granted a right to somebody else to use their property or part of their property for a particular purpose.

Don’t panic – this doesn’t mean someone else can come into your backyard and have a barbeque!

Usually, it refers to things like the presence of drainage pipes, or the right for someone else to pass over your land to access their own property.

The two most common examples would be drainage easements – that is where a draining pipe runs through multiple properties for stormwater or other purposes and so each property that has the benefit of the draining technically needs permission from the other landowners for whatever it is that is going through the drain to pass over their land.

Say, for example, you live at the top of a hill and you have a stormwater drain in your backyard.

The stormwater drain will run down the hill through the yards of all of the other properties on your street to get to an exit point. You technically need permission from all of your neighbours down the hill for water that goes down your drain to pass through their properties to the stormwater outlet. This is called an easement.

Another common example is a right of carriageway, particularly in the context of a battle-axe block.

There are lots of battle-axe blocks in the Penrith area, particularly in South Penrith close to the various reserves and causeways that exist.

A right of carriageway is one owner (in this example usually the front house) granting to another owner (in this example usually the back house), the right to pass over their land to get to their property.

In the battle-axe block example, the owner of the back house needs to drive down a driveway that is often technically situated on the front property’s land to get to their home.

Easements and rights of carriageway like these are registered on title so that the owner of the property who has the benefit of the easement or right of carriageway can be comfortable that benefit cannot be taken away from them other than by way of agreement or Court Order.

In next week’s article, we will talk about other common things that appear on title for residential properties including convenance and restrictions as to user. Have a great Easter.