http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/balcony-victims-desperate-call/2008/11/03/1225560738032.html

Balcony victim\'s desperate call
Email Printer friendly version Normal font Large font Alex Tibbitts and Georgina Robinson
November 4, 2008 - 11:30AM


The dead girl\'s mother; Wu Liping, and stepfather He Fa Heng.
Photo: Adam Hollingworth

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ONE of four students allegedly sexually assaulted at knifepoint in a Waterloo apartment managed to ring triple-0 before one of them died falling from the third-floor unit trying to escape her attacker.

The call for help on October 26 was cut short before the operator could get an address. However, police managed to trace the call to the apartment complex but did not get a flat number. They arrived at the building but were unable to find the caller in the dozens of units in the complex and left before the 18-year-old Chinese student fell to her death and her Korean boyfriend, 19, suffered severe spinal and leg injuries also falling from the balcony.

Police returned when more triple-0 calls came in alerting them to the couple\'s fate. Two other Chinese nationals were also allegedly repeatedly sexually assaulted in the hour-long ordeal.

A police spokeswoman said: Where it is determined callers are in need of assistance but are unable to supply an address, police use investigative resources to identify the location and dispatch a patrol vehicle. Police followed those procedures in the recent incident at Waterloo. However, they only had a street address and no unit number.

Police attempted to determine if anyone needed assistance but because of the large number of apartments in the complex they were unable to locate the caller.

Police take every call to triple-0 seriously.

Brendan David Dennison, 26, has been charged with murder and 20 other offences, including recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, four counts of inciting others to commit acts of indecency and five counts of aggravated sexual assault.

A magistrate ordered DNA samples to be taken from Dennison and adjourned the matter to December 11.

Meanwhile, the family of the deceased girl said parents should be better informed about the safety of Sydney\'s residential areas.

As the dead girl\'s mother, Wu Leping, made arrangements to farewell her daughter in a traditional Buddhist ceremony, her lawyer said the 43-year-old had pledged to set up a fund to teach newly arrived international students about self-defence and the safest places to live.

We would like all overseas students and the public to know that safety issues for overseas students is very, very important, said her lawyer, Daniel Sheen.

Parents have never been told that Waterloo is an area which, compared to the other areas, is not that safe. It\'s not like we want to discriminate against Waterloo, but if they can have more information that would help.

Ms Wu and her husband, He Fa Heng, will apply for the maximum amount of victims of crime compensation from the State Government, which could provide up to $50,000 to each of the four victims, Mr Sheen said.

His office has also received more than 60 telephone calls and emails since Friday from people and organisations offering to donate money to the victims\' families.

Ms Wu has asked that her daughter\'s funeral be paid for out of any money received. The rest should be used to establish an information service for newly arrived international students.

We do not want to have a second victim like [Ms Wu\'s] daughter, Mr Sheen said. Students could be taught basic self-defence and a database of suburbs and related safety concerns could also be set up.

The family has set up a bank account where members of the public can make donations.

Some money raised will go towards the cost of the victim\'s funeral. The rest will be used to help establish an information service for international students new to Sydney, the family said.

Account name: Liping Wu
Account number: (BSB) 082-024 829 146 706