Councillor faces court

By Melissa Meehan
CARDINIA Shire councillor and former local police officer Stuart Halligan will face court next month after being charged with a series of offences last week.
Cr Halligan will face 11 charges at the Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on 30 March.
The charges include one count of failing to store hand gun or long arm ammunition properly, one count of possessing a silencer without a permit, two counts of stalking, two counts of using a phone service to menace and one count of unlawful assault.
He will also face one count of police accessing information contrary to duty, one count of police disclosing information contrary to duty, one count of theft and one count of knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime.
Cr Halligan was stood down from his role as Senior Sergeant at the Moe Police Station late last year.
His role on the council will only be affected if he is convicted, under the terms of the Local Government Act.
Prior to his time at Moe, Cr Halligan was also stationed at Pakenham and Kooweerup. It is believed that Cr Halligan will vigorously defend the charges. Cr Halligan declined to comment on the matter.