A teenager has been charged after a police vehicle was allegedly damaged at Newcastle West overnight.

About 9pm (Saturday 24 January 2015), police from Newcastle City Local Area Command were called to a shopping centre in Newcastle West for an unrelated matter.

The officers were some distance from the fully-marked vehicle when it’s alleged a 17-year-old youth smashed a rear passenger window, then scratched the paint and slashed a tyre.

Police arrested the boy and seized a screwdriver, knife and permanent marker.

He was taken to Newcastle Police Station where he was charged with malicious damage, possess knife, possess offensive implement, and possess graffiti implement.

The boy, from Berowra, was refused bail to appear in a children’s court today (Sunday 25 January 2014).

A man is due to appear in Newcastle Bail Court today charged after allegedly stabbing another man at Wallsend this morning.

Police from Newcastle City Local Area Command have been told it was shortly after midnight (Sunday 25 January 2015), that the two men were fighting in a house in Walford Street, Wallsend.

A short time later, one of the men allegedly stabbed the other man twice.

Both men are aged 28.

The injured man was taken to John Hunter Hospital where he is reported to be in a stable condition.

Police arrested the other man nearby and he was taken to Waratah Police Station where he was charged with wound person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and breach AVO.

He was bail refused and will attend Newcastle Bail Court later today.

A woman is in a critical condition in hospital after she was swept off rocks while fishing near Newcastle overnight.

The woman was with a friend fishing on a rock platform at Frazer Park, Lake Munmorah, about 7.35pm (Saturday 24 January 2015), when she was washed into the water.

Her friend grabbed a floatation device and jumped in after her but he was unable to bring her back to safety.

Emergency services were called to the scene, while a police officer attached to the Tuggerah Lakes Drug and Anti-Theft Unit patrolling nearby, entered the water to assist the pair.

He kept the woman afloat until she was winched out by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter.

Newcastle Water Police and Maritime officers then assisted the officer and the man from the water and returned them to shore.

The woman was taken to John Hunter Hospital where she is reported to be in a critical condition.

Inquiries are continuing.

A man is expected to appear in court today after allegedly attempting to stab a man in a park at Newcastle.

About 5.45pm (Thursday 22 January 2015), a 31-year-old man approached a man and woman sitting on a seat in a park in King Street.

Police will allege the man produced a knife and attempted to stab the man in the face. The man was able to block to knife; however it did cause a small cut to his cheek and nose. The man made a second attempt to stab him and again the knife missed.

The man ran from the couple towards King Street and police were immediately contacted.

Police arrived a short time later and the man was arrested after a struggle with police at the intersection of Hunter and Worth Street. He was searched and a knife was located.

He was taken to Newcastle Police Station where he was charged with armed with intent to commit indictable offence, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, resist arrest and wield a knife in public place.

The man was further charged with assault in relation to an alleged incident earlier this week.

Police further allege the 31-year-old man approached a family at a shopping centre on Union Street at The Junction on Wednesday (21 January 2015). The man allegedly approached a twelve-year-old boy and hit him to the back of his head.

The Merewether man has been bail refused and is expected to appear in Newcastle Local Court today.

Detectives from the State Crime Command’s Sex Crimes Squad have charged a man over alleged child pornography offences in the state’s Hunter region.

In 2012, officers from a law enforcement partner agency were conducting a covert investigation into the alleged activity of a 50-year-old man on a peer-to-peer file sharing program.

It’s alleged the man shared a number of files deemed to be child abuse material.

As a result of these investigations, a Commonwealth Search Warrant was issued for the man’s Weston home.

Yesterday morning (Wednesday 21 January 2015), detectives from the State Crime Command’s Sex Crime Squad executed the warrant, seizing computers, external storage devices and mobile phones.

The 50-year-old man was arrested at the premises and taken to Cessnock Police Station, where he was charged with two counts of using a carriage for child pornography.

The man was granted strict conditional bail to appear before Cessnock Local Court on Thursday 26 February 2015).

Strike Force Trawler is an ongoing Child Exploitation Internet Unit investigation into the sexual abuse and exploitation of children facilitated through the internet and related telecommunications devices.

Regular covert online investigations are conducted by the Child Exploitation Internet Unit and police in NSW work closely with their law enforcement colleagues interstate and overseas.

Anyone with information about internet predators should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page: https://www1.police.nsw.gov.au/.

Information you provide will be treated in the strictest of confidence. We remind people they should not report crime information via our Facebook and Twitter pages.

Meanwhile, police are again urging parents and children to be mindful of the dangers associated with the internet.

Safe internet use – tips for parents:

• Be aware of how much time your child spends on the internet.

• Spend time talking to your child about the dangers associated with online conversations.

• Spend time exploring the internet with your children and let them teach you about their favourite websites.

• Keep the computer in a room the whole family can access; not in your child’s bedroom.

• Consider installing filtering and/or computer blocking software provided by your internet service provider. The Netalert web page provides information on a number of commercially-available products at www.netalert.net.au.

• Ensure you are able to access your child’s email and randomly check the contents.

• Check your phone bill for unusual outgoing calls, or consider using a ‘caller ID’ device to identify incoming calls.

• Consult your telephone company for options designed to ensure privacy and security.

• Enquire with your child’s school, public library, and places they frequent, to find out what internet safety measures they have in place.

• Information on internet safety is available on the NSW Police website at: http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/community_issues/children/child_exploitation

Tips for children:

• Do not send a picture of yourself to anyone you don’t know and never place a full profile and picture anywhere on the internet.

• Never give out your personal information, including name, home address, phone number or school, over the internet.

• Never arrange a face-to-face meeting with someone you have chatted with on the internet.

• Tell your parents or another adult you know of any contact that makes you feel uncomfortable.

• Remember that pressing ‘send’ is definite and final – you can’t get it back or take it down.

A seven-year-old boy has died after the car he was travelling in crashed into a gully yesterday afternoon at Williamtown in the state’s Hunter region.

About 4.10pm (Wednesday 21 January 2015), a 35-year-old man was travelling in a Nissan Pathfinder with four children, aged between seven and 14-years-old, in southerly direction along Medowie Road.

As the driver approached banked up traffic near the intersection of Nelson Bay Road it appears he has driven the 4WD along a grass section of road to the left of the waiting traffic.

The driver lost control of the car near a gully and the 4WD became airborne and impacted heavily on the opposite side.

A seven-year-old boy seated in the rear of the car suffered serious internal injuries and was transported to John Hunter Hospital; however he later died.

The other occupants of the car were also taken to hospital for minor injuries.

The driver was subjected to mandatory blood and urine samples.

A crime scene was established and investigators from the Hunter Crash Investigation Unit along with local police attended. Traffic in the area was disrupted for six hours.

A report will be prepared for the information of the Coroner and investigations are continuing.

Inquiries are continuing after a man set himself on fire in a Newcastle office building today (Monday 19 January 2015).

About 11am police were called to a building on Wharf Road after staff became concerned about a man in the foyer.

As police arrived, the man has set himself alight. The officers, along with employees, were able to cover him in a fire blanket.

Due to smoke, workers in the building were advised to leave the premises as precaution

The man was taken to John Hunter Hospital where he continues to receive treatment.

The two police officers and one of the office workers who rendered first aid to the man have received treatment for smoke inhalation.

Initial inquiries suggest no apparent suspicious circumstances surrounding the man’s injury.

Detectives from Newcastle City Local Area Command are following a number of lines of inquiry, including whether the man may have been involved in a disputed commercial transaction.

Police have seized drugs, ammunition and a rifle after executing a search warrant at Belmont North last week.

About 10.50am on Friday 16 January 2015, detectives executed a search warrant at a house on Floraville Road.

At the home, officers allegedly seized amounts of methylamphetamine and cannabis.

It’s further alleged that under a bed, police found a loaded .303 rifle and a box of .22 calibre ammunition.

A 31-year-old man was arrested and taken to Charlestown Police Station.

The man was charged with possession of unauthorised firearm, possession of unregistered firearm, not keep firearm safely, possession of ammunition without licence, possession of prohibited drug (x2) and drive whilst suspended.

He was granted conditional bail to appear before Belmont Local Court on Wednesday 4 February 2015.