Joanna Menagh
Joanna Menagh is the senior court reporter for ABC News Perth. She has reported on Western Australia's most high profile cases on television, radio and online for more than a decade.
Latest by Joanna Menagh
Killer rapist who took lives of pregnant mum and toddler son set to be freed from jail
Kingsley Pickett, who killed pregnant mother Margaret Blurton and her baby son in a 1991 high-speed crash and earned a reputation as WA's worst serial offender, is being released on a supervision order.
Updated
Italian restaurant owner on trial over string of alleged sexual assaults on women across Perth
Alberto Nicoletti, the former owner and manager of an Italian restaurant in Como, has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges for a series of alleged sexual assaults.
Updated
WA school teacher jailed for sexual abuse of teenage student after messaging on Snapchat
Nicholas Visser first contacted the girl on the social media app Snapchat, then told an internal school investigation the friend request was a mistake he made after a night of drinking.
Perth man killed his mother for her life insurance money, prosecutors will allege
Prosecutors tell a court Andre Rebelo was in financial strife and murdered his mother to gain access to her money.
Charges dropped against man accused of causing fire which destroyed 86 homes in Perth hills
By Joanna Menagh and Kenith Png
The case against the man accused of causing the devastating Wooroloo bushfires - which destroyed more than 80 homes - has been dropped. .
Updated
Perth court hears details of 'frenzied' attack in which one man was killed, two others injured
Bailey Jordan Lester was under the influence of methamphetamine and GHB when he stabbed a man to death in a suburban home last year.
Updated
Man behind unprovoked backpacker knife attack found not guilty of attempted murder on insanity grounds
Liaqat Ali Zahidi will remain in custody after being found not guilty of attempting to murder a man at a East Perth hostel, with the Supreme Court hearing the 30-year-old was of unsound mind at the time.
'Murder-suicide plan' revealed in court as high school stabbing offender pleads guilty to upgraded charge
The Perth Children's Court hears the decision to upgrade the charge was made after more evidence was gathered, including the examination of a diary written by the offender.
Court sees distressing footage of unprovoked stabbing attack at Perth backpackers hostel
Confronting footage of an unprovoked and knife attack inside at an East Perth back packers hostel is played to the WA Supreme Court, as the man responsible argued he was not of sound mind at the time.
Updated
Western Power fined $80,000 for causing devastating Wheatbelt bushfire
A court has heard a state-owned electricity company knew about issues that led to a large bushfire for a decade before the blaze. It also heard it would have taken two days to fix them.
Updated
Station operators fined $50k over the death of 1,000 cattle suffering from neglect
Operators of a station in WA's Pilbara will be forced to pay a $50,000 fine over the death of 1,000 cattle suffering from neglect.
Updated
Axe attacker admits attempting to murder federal MP Kate Chaney's sister at Perth medical clinic
A 55-year-old man who attacked Anna Chaney with an axe in September at the North Perth medical clinic where she worked, after stalking her for years, pleads guilty in court.
Updated
Perth karate instructor jailed for sexually abusing teenage student
A senior Perth karate instructor who sexually abused a teenage student and then threatened to kill her if she reported it to police, is sentenced to eight years jail.
Predator used school newsletters to plan pool visits so he could record naked children, court told
A 24-year-old Perth man who frequented two northern suburbs leisure centres so he could repeatedly make indecent recordings of young children in the change rooms is jailed.
Updated
Perth parents slam fines against two companies over son's death at mine site
Michael Johnson died in 2020 at the Whirling Dervish mine, 120 kilometres from Kalgoorlie, after he fell 25 metres in a vehicle.
Updated
Man admits 'sextortion' blackmailing of hundreds of young girls while pretending to be teenage social media celebrity
A Perth man, who is already in jail for sexually abusing a teenage girl, pleads guilty to almost 120 charges of the online "sextortion" of hundreds of girls from around the world.
Company charged over death of apprentice on Curtin University site denies failings
Construction management company Stantec pleads not guilty in a Perth court to failing to ensure the safety of apprentice Jonnie Hartshorn, who died when a glass roof collapsed at a Curtin University building site.
Updated
'I saw a car coming': Mother on trial for causing a crash that killed her daughter, stepson
Careless driving-accused Stacey Leigh Cunningham has fought back tears as Perth Magistrates Court hears details of the crash that killed her daughter and stepson in 2020.
Updated
Grandson of former WA premier among trio jailed over plot to import 99kg of meth hidden in latex pillows
Three Perth men, including the grandson of a former West Australian premier, are each sentenced to more than 13 years in jail over a plot to import methamphetamine worth up to $159 million into the country.
Bus passenger who 'violated dignity of passengers' jailed over 30 minute lewd act
The man, who likely has Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, committed the lewd acts on the bus in broad daylight, which the judge said violated the dignity of all passengers on board.
Updated
Senior Perth karate sensei found guilty of sexually abusing teenage student
A Perth karate instructor who denied ever having any inappropriate contact with a teenage student is found guilty of sexually abusing the girl, starting when she was aged 15 and he offered to mentor her.
Boy who told triple-0 operator he was going to kill people admits firing shots into Perth school
A 15-year-old who sparked fears of an American-style school shooting pleads guilty to endangering the lives of staff and students at Atlantis Beach Baptist College in Perth's north.
Updated
Man jailed for 'disgusting, disgraceful, predatory' attack on two homeless teenagers in motel room
A man who lured two homeless teenagers into his car with an offer of a place to stay before sexually assaulting them in a motel is sentenced to more than 12 years in jail.
Updated
Judge rejects former basketballer's claim he was not of sound mind when he bludgeoned partner to death
A former basketballer who inflicted catastrophic head injuries on a Perth mother of five fails to convince a Supreme Court judge he is not guilty of murder.
Updated
Perth father sentenced to 11 years in jail for killing his 'helpless little baby' by violently shaking her
Juan Daniel Visagie, who has a history of domestic violence offences, is sentenced to 11 years in jail for killing his baby daughter.
Updated