Rob McLennan

A man facing multiple charges related to alleged child sex offences has had his court case adjourned for two months. The 54-year-old, who cannot be named or in any way identified for legal reasons, appeared in Batemans Bay Local Court this week on a string of counts, including aggravated sexual assault on a person under the age of 16. The alleged predator, who has been on remand since his arrest last year, remained in his cell while his case was raised in a mention hearing.

South Coast police are refusing to rule out possible links between a spate of arson attacks on South Coast tobacco shops. In the most recent incident, Eden Tobacconist and Giftware, in Lyan St, was badly damaged after a jerry can was thrown in and set alight in the early hours of last Thursday morning. It follows the firebombing of another tobacco retailer in Moruya last year, in which the building and the adjoining LJ Hooker real estate office were completely destroyed.