Bec Symons

1 week ago | abc.net.au | Bec Symons

The victims of a disgraced Latrobe Valley school teacher have detailed how his sexual offending led to lives marred with drug addiction and mental illness. Peter Jeffrey Farmer, 66, has pleaded guilty to 10 sexual assault and gross indecency charges related to five different victims as young as eight years old between 1986 and 1988. As some of his victims read their devastating impact statements, they were forced to stop and start as the video link to Farmer's prison room cut in and out.

2 weeks ago | abc.net.au | Bec Symons

The son of a Phillip Island man who was found dead in his home on Monday morning has been released from custody without charge. Paul Waylen was found dead at his Cowes home just before 10:30am after police were called to the property to conduct a welfare check. Homicide detectives cordoned off the expansive fenced property as they investigated the 86-year-old's death. A man believed to be Mr Waylen's son, Frank Waylen, was arrested in nearby Ventnor shortly before his father's body was discovered.

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Bec Symons

Monkeys are being bred and studied at Monash University in the Latrobe Valley. Animal welfare advocates want the work of the Monash Animal Research Platform disclosed publicly. Monash University says the research abides by rigorous regulations and ethical considerations. In a small country town east of Melbourne, monkeys are bred in a university laboratory and used for experiments to improve health and medical outcomes for people around the world.

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Bec Symons

A woman has died in hospital after being hit by a car allegedly travelling on the wrong side of the road in Victoria's Gippsland region. The 68-year-old woman was walking her neighbour's dog about 3:45pm on Sunday when she and the dog were hit on Campbell Road in Wonthaggi. She was flown to a Melbourne hospital in a critical condition and died. The dog also died. Police alleged the 47-year-old male driver of the car left the site of the accident, before returning and being arrested.

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Bec Symons

One of Victoria's biggest regional hospitals has reported nine preventable deaths or cases of serious harm as a result of adverse care over five years. Now, the mother of a newborn baby - who died after one week - is taking legal action and is pleading for an inquest. Hospital staff members have told the ABC these cases are the tip of the iceberg. And a warning this story may be distressing for some.