January 18
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A Shepparton man stole vehicles, $50,000 worth of jewellery, and sex toys over a 16-day spree before being caught after falling through a roof and needing to be rescued while trying to escape from police while naked.
He was sentenced to 12 months in prison, with the 10 months and 21 days spent in pre-sentence detention to be ruled as time already served.
He was also disqualified from driving for 12 months.
February 13
Burning high into the sky: nearly 5.2 tonnes of cannabis destroyed
Police have destroyed 5.2 tonnes of marijuana seized during a raid on a Toolamba property on Wednesday and took close to three days to complete due to the large quantity.
It is alleged to be the largest hydroponic cannabis crop seized in Victoria.
With millions of dollars worth of cannabis out in the open, police spent the past few nights guarding the area.
Five men are facing charges, including cultivating and trafficking a large commercial quantity of cannabis, and possession of cannabis and cannabis cultivation equipment.
March 31
Man smashed door at McDonald’s
A man broke a door at a Cobram fast food restaurant because another customer received their order before him, a court heard.
The 26-year-old Cobram man successfully applied for bail in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court.
Among his charges were criminal damage, theft, two counts of committing an indictable offence while on bail, and contravening a bail condition.
May 13
Man charged following fatal mini-bus crash in Arcadia South
A Gunbower man, 75, has been charged by Major Collision Investigation Unit detectives following a fatal crash in Arcadia South.
The charges relate to a mini-bus rollover on Murchison-Violet Town Rd on May 20, 2021.
Three passengers were flown to hospital with life-threatening injuries and six passengers were taken to hospital with serious injuries.
One passenger, a 40-year-old Echuca woman, died at the scene.
The man was charged with culpable driving, dangerous driving causing death, negligently causing serious injury, dangerous driving causing serious injury and reckless conduct endangering life.
June 2
Shepparton Instagram paedophile sent and received hundreds of child abuse images
A Shepparton cleaner who used social media to try to obtain child abuse material from about 100 children told police his “curiosity turned into an addiction”.
A plea hearing at Melbourne Country Court heard the 49-year-old man used personas on Instagram to convince victims to make and send him sexual images and videos of themselves.
Of the victims, 99 were girls and two were boys.
The man pleaded guilty to 46 charges on May 31, over the offending between October 2018 and February 2021 with children aged mostly between 11 and 14, but as young as nine.
July 4
Three-and-a-half-hour siege at Kialla ends
One man was taken to hospital following a three-and-a-half-hour siege at a Kialla house.
The man was taken away in an ambulance following the siege, which finished about 8.35pm after the Critical Incident Response Team arrived at the scene — a house on a service road just off the Goulburn Valley Hwy near Taig Ave.
Police were told the man, aged in his 30s, entered a store and allegedly assaulted a woman in what appeared to be an unprovoked attack before he damaged a number of cars at a dealership along Goulburn Valley Hwy.
The dog squad was also called to the incident, with more than half a dozen police cars, an ambulance, a Fire and Rescue tanker and Shepparton Search and Rescue also on standby.
September 2
Man dead following Mooroopna house fire
Victoria Police are investigating the cause of a fatal house fire in Mooroopna on Friday morning.
An elderly man died in the fire at Lenne St, Mooroopna while the man’s elderly wife remains in hospital in Shepparton being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Emergency services were called to the scene just after 8am, with CFA crews from Mooroopna arriving within minutes.
September 15
Man charged over Strathmerton postmaster’s death will stand trial for manslaughter
The man accused of the manslaughter of a former Strathmerton postmaster has been committed to stand trial in the Supreme Court.
The 43-year-old man pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter charge after a committal hearing in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court.
The charge comes after the death of the 73-year-old postmaster more than two months after an incident at the Shell service station at Strathmerton on August 8, 2021.
October 28
Numurkah murder was a ‘delusional revenge attack’
A wife spent 28 minutes doing CPR on her husband in the driveway of their Numurkah home after he was fatally shot, while fearing his killer would come back for her.
A 59-year-old Caniambo man pleaded guilty in the Shepparton Supreme Court to murder.
Prosecutor Erin Ramsay told the court the man drove to the victim’s home after 8.30pm and shot him twice — once in the head and once in the chest.
Ms Ramsay described the shooting as a “revenge attack” for grievances the man had with his employers.
November 11
Children attempted to hold up a Shepparton store with imitation gun
Two Shepparton boys, aged 10 and 12, have been issued official cautions after attempting to rob a store.
Police said the two boys entered Chemist Warehouse in Wyndham St, Shepparton with an imitation firearm on Friday, November 11.
Shepparton News journalist