Andre Reyes (formerly of Gipsy Kings)
Darling Harbour Theatre, May 19
★★★

Had we come to the right place?

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Dressed for dancing, many of the people milling in the foyer had bought tickets to this show on the promise of “GIPSY KINGS by Andre Reyes”, with the last three words in very small print on the ads.

But the video screens here were displaying the rather less catchy “Andre Reyes (formerly of Gipsy Kings)”.

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It turns out the 51-year-old, who in 2014 left the flamenco fusionists famous for Bamboleo, hadn’t got around to clearing his use of the brand name with his elder brother. Nicolas Reyes remains lead singer of the act spawned by two families of France-based Spanish gypsies in the late 1970s.

The forced change in promotional material meant this 2500-capacity theatre was only two-thirds full. But in the end neither that, nor the fact the voice of the hits was absent, stopped the crowd from moving and hollering their appreciation throughout the two-hour set.

Andre has put together a pretty mean family band of his own, featuring three young relatives on Spanish guitar, backed with keyboard, drums, electric bass and virtuosic percussion from Brazilian Guilherme Dos Santos.

Their music sat somewhere between rumba, salsa and pop, with most of the flamenco element confined to the singing. From opener A tu Vera on, the anguished, earthy ululations of Reyes and sons never stopped packing an emotional punch.

The entire first half was strong, the likes of Gipsy Kings hits Djobi Djoba, Bem Bem Maria and Bailame intoxicating with their multiple layers of rhythm, lightning fretwork from David “Mario” Reyes, and impassioned vocals. It was also a delight to hear Andre channel Julio Iglesias on ballad Un Amor, which got the smartphone torch sway-along that seems to have become obligatory at pop concerts.

The second hour flagged somewhat, the danceable numbers suffering from a saminess in their syncopated bass lines, and guitar strumming patterns that rarely deviated from the rumba style with an open palm slap on the second and fourth beat.

The covers of My Way and Hotel California were inessential, and the same could be said of Jose “Chico” Castillo, a minor Latin pop star of the 1990s who on this night was a portly hype-man and occasional singer.

Charming at first, his cries of "Gipsy Kings!" (he mustn't have seen the legal letter) and insistence that we applaud or clap along to nearly everything became grating.

Not that this audience seemed to mind, especially once the set reached the two songs that make "Gipsy Kings" a name worth fighting for – that explosive earworm Bamboleo, and Volare, the Italian pop staple that is the one cover the Reyes make their own.

Damion Flower may lose his slot in the $14 million Everest as he faces a show cause notice from Racing NSW as to why he should be allowed to continue in the industry while facing drug importation charges.

Flower paid for his slot in full for 2019 and it remains unclear whether he will be refunded that money if he loses the slot. Racing NSW will wait until the outcome of the show cause notice to decide if he can continue as a slot holder from 2020 in its flagship race.

“No matter what the circumstances, Racing NSW will provide due process and natural justice to its participants,” Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys said.

“Accordingly, I stress that we are not pre-judging Mr Flower’s case who is entitled to the presumption of innocence and will be given every opportunity to respond to the show cause notice issued by Racing NSW when he is able to do so.

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“However, in the interim, it is critical that the integrity, image and interests of thoroughbred racing in New South Wales be protected which is why Racing NSW has imposed interim conditions on Mr Flower’s participation in the thoroughbred racing industry.

“It is also important that other racing participants that race horses with Mr Flower are not unfairly prejudiced as a result of the charges against Mr Flower.

“The interim conditions have been framed so that those persons, who are not involved and need to be treated accordingly so as they are not disadvantaged due to circumstance beyond their control, can continue to train and race horses."

Flower has been charged with six counts of importing a border controlled substance, cocaine, and Racing NSW moved swiftly on Friday.

"Racing NSW acted immediately to protect the integrity, image and interests of thoroughbred racing by issuing a show cause notice to Mr Flower on that day, which has been served on his representative, requiring him to show cause as to why the provisions of AR23 should not be imposed against him in respect of his ongoing participation in the thoroughbred racing industry," a statement said.

"In this respect, it is important to note that the stand-down conditions under AR23 (which were introduced into the Rules of Racing in October 2013) are intended to protect the integrity, image and interests of thoroughbred racing while charges are being determined against a person and Racing NSW is in no way prejudging the charges against Mr Flower nor interfering with his entitlement to the presumption of innocence."

Until a hearing is held Flower’s horses will be allowed to continue to race but any prizemoney will be frozen and held by Racing NSW or provided to any third party subject to legal requirements, until all charges issued against Flower have been determined.

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Flower’s colours of red with white spots will not be used in races or barrier trials.

Further if Flower is granted bail on the charges he will not be allowed to enter any racecourse or training centre or participate in the preparation for racing or training of any horse.

Opposition transport spokeswoman Jodi McKay has promised to unite the NSW Labor Party and “put people first” if elected to the top job next month.

Announcing her bid for the Labor leadership in her inner Sydney Strathfield electorate, Ms McKay styled herself as someone with “country values” who could broaden Labor’s base across the state.

“I despair that in rural areas across NSW there is a view that if you are unhappy with the National Party, you still can’t vote for the Labor Party,” Ms McKay said.

“I say to rural NSW, if a country kid from Gloucester can stand for the leadership of the Labor Party, then you can vote Labor.”

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Ms McKay grew up in Gloucester on the Mid North Coast of NSW, but left when she was 18 and settled in Newcastle. She was the member for Newcastle between 2007-2011, and held several ministerial roles during the last Labor government, including as the minister for tourism and minister for the Hunter.

After a hiatus, she returned to politics as the Member for Strathfield in 2015, and has served in shadow cabinet since then.

Ms McKay’s nomination sets up a two-horse race for the leadership, after Kogarah MP Chris Minns announced his bid on Thursday.

The successful candidate will be chosen through a month-long ballot process, with the parliamentary caucus and rank-and-file members each having a 50 per cent say.

In a bid to demonstrate her support in the local branches, Ms McKay assembled dozens of grassroots members, many decked out in her red state election campaign t-shirts, to serve as the backdrop as she announced her nomination in Homebush West.

“I’ve always stood up for what is right,” Ms McKay said. “I can also unite our caucus. We have to have a stable and united team if we are to win the election in 2023.”

Ms McKay did not go into detail about her key policies, and said she would consult branch members about “their vision” for their communities.

“I want the party members to tell me what they want to do with the environment and renewable energy, and what they expect us to do around climate change,” she said.

“I want to know what their vision is for education and hospitals. We have to put people first.”

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However, she listed education as her “key” priority, and was critical of the party’s focus on the issue through the prism of infrastructure at the March election.

“We failed to put meat around our argument on schools and hospitals,” Ms McKay said.

“We spoke about demountables, we spoke about air conditioning, we spoke about schools maintenance. We need to do better than that.”

Both Ms McKay and Mr Minns are from the party’s Right, and will spend the next month canvassing support from colleagues, branch members, and unions.

While some Left wing unions have made clear their disdain for Mr Minns, they have stopped short of endorsing Ms McKay.

Other unions, including the Right wing Electrical Trade Unions, Health Services Union, and Transport Workers Union, were struggling to find consensus support for either candidate.

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May has been the month of miracles. This was the way our highly devout Prime Minister described his election victory, which arrived on the back of three years of dysfunctional government and a campaign devoid of policies. It was also the way Tony Costa responded to his victory in this year’s Archibald Prize, for a portrait of artist, Lindy Lee. “Miraculous,” he said.

The word, in both instances, seems well-chosen. I won’t wade into the shallows of politics, but Costa’s win seems one of the least predictable in decades. Because I was overseas during the announcement I didn’t have to take my usual punt, but I wouldn’t have seen this one coming.

I’m pleased for Tony Costa, an underrated artist who is overdue for some attention, but many would probably agree that he is more of a landscapist than a portraitist. As a picture of a person meditating it’s understandable Lee should have her eyes closed, but this is a major drawback in any portrait. To say the eyes are the windows of the soul is a cliche, but close them and the life drains out of a work, the human connection fails and a person becomes an object. It’s as much of a no-no as showing the subject’s teeth, a feature that turns any painting into a happy snap.

In Milan, while the Archibald was being announced, I was looking at the incredible portraits of Antonello da Messina (1430-79), who had the ability to convey a sitter’s entire personality in the curve of a lip or an eyebrow, or the gleam in a pupil. To return to Sydney and be confronted with this year’s Archibald selections was to feel that whatever has been happening in art for the past 400 years, it couldn’t be called "progress".

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Costa’s portrait is also disappointingly schematic, being nothing more than a figure deposited on a ground. Once again I can understand the idea of depicting a meditating figure in the silhouette of a mountain, but it doesn’t make for a challenging composition.

Were there better candidates for the Prize? Yes, but not many, because this is one of the poorest Archibalds in living memory. As has been the practice over the past few years the show is too large, with more than 50 works on display. The idea, presumably, is that profusion adds variety. The reality is that it diffuses interest, as most entries have no hope of winning, while the preponderance of mediocre pictures drags down one’s overall impression of the event.

There are too many teensy-weensy pictures, even though some of the small works, notably Keith Burt’s Benjamin Law: Happy Sad and Angus McDonald’s Mariam Veiszadeh, are accomplished examples of the portraitist’s art. There is a large dose of that nit-picking photorealism that appeals to the public in the most banal way, and irritates the purists who believe a portrait should not be over-dependent on the camera. Exhibit A is Tessa MacKay’s giant-sized portrait of David Wenham which won this year’s Packing Room Prize – a monument to patience and perseverence, but aesthetically inert.

There are ugly, shapeless concoctions by Shane Bowden, Paul Ryan and Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran (who is so much more effective as a ceramic sculptor). Imants Tillers’ All hail Greg Inglis resembles a pin-board rather than a painting. As for David Griggs’ portrait of Alexie Glass-Kantor, it would make a great cover for a psychedelic rock album, but it could be a '‘portrait'’ of almost anyone, or anything. And what was Anh Do thinking when he added bits of meaningless collage to his ragged portrait of George Gittoes “to represent the beauty of art”? Perhaps it was to compensate for the resounding lack of beauty in the bits he painted himself.

Some works are just plain dull. Jordan Richardson’s Annabel Crabb is more like Annabel Drab. When someone works so hard to be a "personality" it seems perverse to pare away all the trimmings. Crabb looks so dazed she may as well be holding a marijuana leaf.

The majority of works in the show inspired nothing more than indifference, for which I’m almost thankful. In a more predictable universe the Prize would have gone to Jude Rae for Sarah Peirse as Miss Docker in Patrick White’s ‘A cheery soul’. It’s not an especially original idea to portray an actor in character (Nick Harding’s winning entry of 2001 showed John Bell as King Lear), but it’s a solid work in which a backdrop of basic black, broken by a thin, reflective shimmer at foot level, feels like a view of the stage from the stalls.

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Clara Adolphs’ double portrait of Rosemary Laing and Geoff Kleem (in their garden) owes an obvious debt to photography, but the artist’s unfussy way with the brush lends both energy and intimacy to the scene. John Beard’s portrait of the late, lamented Edmund Capon betrays a similar debt, but here the paint is applied in minute cross-hatchings that seem like a penance for the Pop simplicity of the image itself. Vanessa Stockard’s romantic, Van Gogh-like portrait of McLean Edwards, is a more flattering likeness than the picture that won Tim Storrier the 2017 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize.

White shells, black heart, Blak Douglas’ portrait of shell artist, Esme Timbery is a large, vividly coloured depiction of a head floating in space. It may not be the ideal thing for the lounge room wall but it’s a skilful, formally inventive work in which the artist has combined several different methods of painting in an image of almost outlandish directness.

Natasha Walsh has also shown imagination in a self-portrait on copper, in which she seems to be sitting in an imaginary chair in the midst of a field. It’s odd to the point of surreality, but far better a controlled experiment than a stroll down the straight-and-narrow, or another blast of vomitous expressionism.

Finally, I’d give the thumbs up to Michael Vale’s Kid Congo on the island of the pink monkey birds – a suitably fantastic tribute to a cult guitarist. It’s an exercise in B-movie gothic that remembers a few points other artists have apparently forgotten. For instance, Vale has taken the time to capture a likeness. He has given us a composition, however bizarre, and he conveys a strong impression of the theatrical nature of a Kid Congo performance. Allowing for the ghouls and pink monkey birds it’s a rather old-fashoned portrait, and all the better for it.

The 2019 Archibald Prize is at the Art Gallery of NSW until September 8.

The daughter of a multi-millionaire Sydney businesswoman says she is "ashamed" of her role in helping her Mexican lover import kilograms of ice into Australia but says she was drawn into it because of love.

Rose Thomas has admitted to aiding and abetting her girlfriend, Norma Zuniga Frias, in importing 15.9 kilograms of pure methamphetamine valued at $14 million in March 2018.

Thomas helped Frias by purchasing backpacks and scales to divide up the drug shipment, which had been concealed inside speaker boxes and stashed at an Airbnb apartment under fake names.

Frias was to be paid $15,000 to receive the packages from a contact in Mexico before the pair were arrested by police in their Marrickville share house.

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At a sentencing hearing in Sydney's Downing Centre District Court on Friday, Thomas – the daughter of online publisher Jackie Maxted – said that as soon as she arrived at the rented apartments in Rozelle and saw the speaker boxes, she was overwhelmed and did not want to be there.

She told the court she had no idea about the quantity or type of drugs being imported and originally thought it was cocaine.

"As soon as I stepped in there, I wanted to leave," she told the sentencing hearing. "I was preparing to tell Norma I didn't want to be there anymore."

Thomas, 26, has been convicted of aiding and abetting an attempt to possess a commercial quantity of an unlawfully imported, border-controlled drug. She has been on $100,000 bail awaiting sentencing and living with her mother at her Bondi home.

Frias, who has pleaded guilty to importing a commercial quantity of methamphetamine, has been in custody since their March 2018 arrest.

"I feel ashamed of having had anything to do with it," Thomas told the court. "I see anything in the drug trade as a completely greedy act.

"It's something that millions or thousands of people lose their lives to every year. It's been horrible on my family and friends and everyone around me."

Ms Maxted told the court her daughter and Frias had been "very happy and in love" at the time of the offence. She said when her daughter came out of prison on bail she was "frail and scared".

"She said that she's extremely disappointed in herself, and bewildered as to why she didn't stop it," Ms Maxted said.

"She wants to get her life back on track, to make amends for the mistakes she's made and live a normal life."

Thomas' lawyer, Phillip Boulten SC, said his client had been drawn into it through love and that "she could barely have done less".

Judge Richard Weinstein said that "in the haze of young love, things are often done which seem absurd after reflection".

Crown prosecutor Robert McCaw said that while he accepted that Ms Thomas' actions were at the "lower end" of this type of crime, a prison sentence with a non-parole period was needed to send a message to the community.

Frias' lawyer, Malcolm Ramage QC, said his client had "lost the lot" and her conviction had already limited "her life dramatically".

She faces deportation to Mexico after she is released.

The pair had become romantically involved after Frias arrived in Sydney in early 2017 on a student visa. She had spent holidays in Tasmania with Thomas and her family over Christmas.

They were "extremely close", Thomas told the court.

"We were inseparable I'd say … I was deeply in love with her. It was my world at that time," she said.

They did not speak during proceedings on Friday.

The hearing is expected to resume on July 12.

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Washington: An altered video of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, slowed down to the point that some social media users think she seems drunk, is spreading online.

A three-minute video from Pelosi's Wednesday remarks at the Centre for American Progress Ideas Conference, where she accused President Donald Trump of a cover-up and indicated that it may be an impeachable offence, was manipulated so her words sounded slurred and garbled. The video, which has 2.1 million views on Facebook and has been shared 45,000 times on that platform,was posted by a group called Politics WatchDog. The video has also made its way onto Twitter and was on Youtube, but has since been removed from that site.

The video has been slowed to about 75 per cent of its original speed, according to the Washington Post, which first reported on the distorted video. The pitch has also been altered after it was slowed down to make it sound more like Pelosi's actual voice.

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Hany Farid, a computer-science professor and digital-forensics expert at University of California, Berkeley, told the Post that there was "no question" the video had been altered and that "it's striking that such a simple manipulation can be so effective and believable to some."

Pelosi and Trump have traded barbs over the past several days after infrastructure funding talks fell apart once the president conditioned further negotiations with Congress on the ending all congressional probes into him, his administration and his finances.

The House speaker has accused the president of being engaged in a "cover-up," adding that he threw a "temper tantrum" at the infrastructure meeting. She has since expressed concern for Trump's and nation's "well-being", Trump on Thursday, US time, called Pelosi a "mess". The President also derided her as "crazy" and said she is "disintegrating."

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Trump late Thursday, US time, also tweeted a separate video of a Pelosi press conference that splices together the times she stuttered or stumbled over words.

"PELOSI STAMMERS THROUGH NEWS CONFERENCE," the President tweeted along with the video clip.

The video was featured on Fox Business' Lou Dobbs show, where political analyst Ed Rollins said he thought the House speaker was getting "worn down."

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Greg Inglis has entered rehabilitation as the Rabbitohs legend struggles to adapt to his life in retirement.

South Sydney issued a short statement on Friday confirming Inglis, who hung up his boots earlier this season with more than 18 months left on his Rabbitohs deal, has entered a clinic.

"Rabbitohs and Souths Cares ambassador Greg Inglis has entered a facility to undergo treatment to assist with and support his mental health," a South Sydney statement said.

"On behalf of Greg and his family, we ask the media and the public to respect their privacy. No further comment will be made by the Rabbitohs, Greg, his management or his family at this time."

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It’s understood the 32-year-old's stint in the rehabilitation facility could be months-long rather than days or weeks.

NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg said on Friday the game would continue to support Inglis, who was handed a role with the Rabbitohs’ charity arm Souths Cares and as a development coach and Indigenous mentor upon his retirement.

"The short answer is we can always do more," Greenberg said.

"I've been in constant contact with Greg and his club. In fact, I am pleased he has taken that step, it's an important step for him. Clearly he has had some difficulties, and I am glad he is getting the specialist support he needs.

"Mental health is an issue, not just for rugby league but for the broader community. We run a number of very important programs, and we have done over a long period of time.

"The most important thing we can continue to do is reduce the stigma, to take away the stigma. When someone puts their hand up and asks for help, that's a good thing.

"What Greg is doing at the moment is reaching out and asking for professional help. Let's remove the stigma and say that's a good thing. He has been open about some of his challenges with mental health.

"I have got to know Greg over a long period of time, it takes real bravery to admit some of your own failures. He'll get the help he needs.

"As a community and as a country, when talking about mental health, it's OK to put your hand up and ask for help. It's actually a sign of great strength."

The NRL made a determination last week on how the $1.5 million Inglis was owed for the rest of his contract would sit on the Rabbitohs’ salary cap, but it's been the least of concerns for the South Sydney hierarchy.

Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett said Inglis was the happiest he'd seen since arriving at the club when he addressed the media after South Sydney’s thumping win over the Broncos earlier this month.

The match doubled as a tribute to Inglis and his former teammates celebrated with his trademark 'goanna' after each try.

But Inglis' struggles have accelerated in recent weeks to the point where he will enter rehabilitation having first been admitted for mental health issues in 2017.

"The best thing about Greg is that he's getting the support that he needs, OK," Bennett said on Friday.

"So that's as much as I want to talk about it. I don't want to elaborate on it. But that's the situation."

Inglis played 265 NRL matches for both the Storm and Rabbitohs as well as 39 Tests for Australia and 32 games for Queensland in the State of Origin arena.

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Do you tend to berate yourself when you make a mistake? Angrily lament your lack of willpower if you finish a packet of Maltesers? If your inner critic seethes when you feel you've done something wrong, you're far from alone.

Chances are you'd never talk to a friend the way your inner voice talks to you. We're wonderful at showing compassion towards others, but stumble when it comes to extending the same inward.

Psychologist Paul Gilbert came across the need for compassion as a therapeutic modality in England in the 1980s. After quizzing patients, he was shocked to hear just how many adopted harsh, scathing tones when engaging in self-talk.

He encouraged them to embrace a kinder tone. Some patients flatly refused, telling him they had never been nice to themselves and couldn't imagine starting now. Those who persevered faced another hurdle.

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"They began to realise how lonely they'd felt for so long, because they'd had this hostile relationship with themselves for so long," he said.

Professor Gilbert could see these patients were crying out for self-compassion. Through the 1990s, he developed what's now known as Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT).

CFT has since spread to our shores, says Dr James Kirby, a clinical psychologist at the University of Queensland and director of the Compassionate Mind Research Group. He cites the "recent surge" in people embracing mindfulness for creating our demand for compassion-based therapies.

Professor Gilbert is keen to note compassion is a sensitivity to suffering (either in yourself or others) along with a commitment to trying to alleviate and prevent such pain.

"Compassion involves, firstly, finding the courage to engage with things that are hard, frightening or upsetting … and secondly … the wisdom to find out how best to help one's self and others." These principles guide CFT's motto, which is "to be helpful, not harmful, to myself and others".

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That harsh, negative self-talk is harmful to our health, Gilbert says. He says being verbally attacked by someone stimulates our stress system. "But equally, we can do it ourselves [by being self-critical]."

He cites studies that used brain scanners to support this notion. "When we're being self-critical, we're stimulating stress processes in your body, whereas when we're being compassionate, we don't."

The main problem to generating self-compassion, Gilbert says, is understanding that it's about becoming aware of your suffering, while nurturing a desire to alleviate it. Once people grasp this, he says, it's "fairly straightforward".

Start by becoming mindful of your inner voice. Gilbert says most people tend to "slip" into it, so pay attention. When you have the time, try to slow the process down. Imagine you can physically take the self-critic out of your head and just let it speak to you.

"When people do that, they suddenly realise this self-criticism can be much more vicious than they thought. It can say things like, 'You're no good, you're a waste of space.' The emotion in those words can be quite angry," he says.

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Once you've let the self-critic rant, consider why it's so angry or afraid, but don't fight with it. Make a decision to treat yourself – and your critic – with the kind of "wise compassion" you'd afford a good friend, offering helpful suggestions, in a kind tone.

We don't have to believe what we're telling ourselves. Your critical mind will try to jump in and attack, Gilbert warns, but try not to let that deter you. He recommends deepening your breathing, aiming for around five breaths a minute. Doing that takes us from the frantic "fight or flight" sympathetic system into the calming, parasympathetic system.

The benefits? We become more courageous, better able to cope with life's difficulties, and improve the way we relate to others. And there's no upside to letting our inner critic run rampant, Gilbert says: "It just makes everything much harder."

This article appears in Sunday Life magazine within the Sun-Herald and the Sunday Age on sale May 26.

A NSW Police weapons instructor who wrote the agency's Taser policy has told an inquest that frontline police are expected to carry one Taser between two officers, but that did not happen on the evening a man was fatally shot at Central Station.

Danukul Mokmool, 30, was shot dead on July 26, 2017 after he ran at police outside a florist while holding a pair of scissors in each hand. Mr Mokmool, who had a history of psychosis, was likely experiencing a psychotic episode at the time, the NSW Coroner's Court heard.

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On Friday, weapons and defensive tactics instructor Sergeant Justin Waters said frontline police wearing uniforms are expected to have one Taser between two officers. Previously, an officer giving evidence seemed to believe wearing the weapon was a matter of individual choice.

Counsel assisting, Adrian Williams, asked if that expectation of wearing the Taser had been made clear to officers.

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"If it hasn't been, it will be after this particular matter," Sergeant Waters said.

The weapons instructor previously said that even if there had been a Taser at the scene, using it would have been futile because it is a single-shot device that needs to be armed with a switch on the side, and if both probes do not hit a target they remain an active threat.

He said if a Taser was used on Mr Mokmool, a firearm would likely have been used "at exactly the same time" by another officer nearby.

Mr Mokmool was fatally shot about 21 seconds after police arrived at the florist, responding to an urgent call that a man was holding a knife to a shopkeeper's throat.

Sergeant Waters said the two officers who shot at Mr Mokmool identified an "immediate risk" to their lives and responded according to their training. Senior Constable Frederick Tse fired three rounds, while Senior Constable Jakob Harrison fired one round.

"The threat from a bladed weapon cannot be understated," Sergeant Waters said.

"I don't believe there's anywhere in there that those officers could have done anything different."

Giving evidence on Friday, forensic pharmacologist John Farrar said when an autopsy was done on Mr Mokmool he was found to have a concentration of methadone in his blood of 0.98mg/litre.

Dr Farrar said Mr Mokmool took one dose of methadone a day, a drug usually given to people to wean them off opiates, and would have been at or near "peak blood concentration" of the substance at the time of the shooting.

He said if a person is consuming methadone on a regular basis, nothing in its effects would cause Mr Mokmool's behaviour on July 26.

Mr Mokmool's mother Supaporn Chomphoo and brother Charlie Huynh were among his relatives to attend the inquest on Friday.

Speaking at the time of his brother's death, Mr Huynh said it was "pretty heartbreaking" and described Mr Mokmool as a lovely person and an "innocent young bloke".

The inquest will resume in June.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. –Sixteen student-athletes have been named to the NFCA’s Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC) All-America team. Additionally, Mt. Hood Community College’s Sarah Stanfill and Edmonds Community College’s Prestyne Kaimi-Montira were named recipients of the New Balance / NFCA Golden Shoe and Diamond Sports / NFCA Catcher of the Year awards.

Leading the way with three overall selections is Bellevue College and Centralia College. North Idaho College, Mt. Hood, Big Bend Community College, Edmonds Community College each had two honorees. 

2019 NFCA NWAC All-Americans

Keying No. 1 Bellevue are pitcher Rhaney Harris, infielder Tatum Dow and outfielder Tori McDowell. The trio has guided the Bulldogs to a 40-5 overall record, 29-3 in league play to earn the top seed heading into this weekend’s NWAC Softball Championship. Harris is 19-1 with 127 strikeouts in 128.1 innings of work, holding her opposition to a .225 batting average. Dow ranks fifth overall with a .526 batting average, while topping the league with 81 hits and 75 runs scored. Additionally, she ranks in the top ten with 194 total bases (3^rd), 20 doubles (5^th), 75 RBI (7^th), a .574 on-base percentage (8^th) and .968 slugging percentage (9^th). McDowall has driven in 80 runs (2^nd), while batting .461 with 17 home runs (7^th) and a .965 slugging percentage.

The fifth-ranked Trailblazers’ trio is comprised of infielder Olivia Dean, outfielder Britzy Hockett and utility player Dakota Brooks. Dean is in the running for the batting title, heading into the weekend with a .548 average, two points off the top spot, while her teammate Hockett is fourth with a .533 average. Dean also ranks third in hits (80), third in on-base percentage (.605), fourth in runs scored (71) and fourth in slugging (1.027). Hockett leads the NWAC with 81 hits and is seventh with a .574 on-base percentage. Brooks does it at the plate as well as helping out in the circle. She owns the third-best slugging percentage (1.058) as well as the third-most doubles (21), while also recording 18 homers (6^th) and 80 RBI (2^nd). Brooks is 20-6 with 136 strikeouts.

No. 2 North Idaho’s duo of hurler Madi Mott and outfielder Bailey Cavanaugh have led the Cardinals to a 33-9 mark, 27-5 in league play. Mott, the only returning All-American, tops the NWAC with a 1.71 ERA and 10.63 punchouts per game. At 20-2, she is tied for third in victories and is second with 199 strikeouts to just 21 walks. Additionally, she has launched a league-best 25 long balls with a .500 batting average, 74 runs scored and 68 RBI. Cavanaugh hits .469 with 12 doubles, 12 homers, 63 RBI and 51 runs scored.

Mt. Hood is led by pitcher McKenzie Pierce and infielder Kennedy Jantzi. Pierce has picked up 31 wins on the season, eight more than the next competitor. She is 31-5 with 121 strikeouts. Offensively, she’s batting .438 with 10 doubles, 13 home runs, 49 RBI and 60 runs scored. Jantzi has driven in a NWAC-best 85 runs, owns the second-best slugging percentage at 1.203, third-best batting average at .539 and is also third with 23 dingers. 

Edmonds’ two All-Americans are Kaimi-Montira and infielder Ciena Kauhi. The Diamond Catcher of the Year ranks fourth with 22 round trippers and fifth with 78 RBI. She is also fifth with a 1.007 slugging percentage and seventh with 142 total bases. Defensively, she sports a .989 fielding percentage, committing one miscue in 88 chances. Kauhi tops the Tritons with a .477 average, five triples and 74 hits, while adding 10 doubles, 35 RBI and 65 runs scored.

Big Bend’s catcher Aubrey Barney and infielder Lynsey Valverde garnered All-America status for the third-seeded Vikings. Barney has a .400 average with 13 doubles, 14 home runs, 56 RBI and 59 runs scored, while Valverde (.460) leads the squad with 74 hits, 17 long balls, 21 stolen bases and 71 RBI.

Rounding out the 2019 All-Americans are Everett Community College’s Megan Parsley and Ashley Bonham of Southwestern Oregon Community College. Parsley, an outfielder, leads the Trojans with a .472 batting average, 60 hits, 21 doubles, 12 home runs, 52 RBI and 42 runs scored. Bonham, a designated player, is the Lakers’ top offensive threat with a .466 average, 68 hits, 15 doubles, 13 homers, 46 RBI and 52 runs, all team highs.

The Golden Shoe recipient Stanfill is tied atop the league with 34 stolen bases. The speedy outfielder was caught just twice all season, while also batting .391 with six doubles, six home runs, 35 RBI and 49 runs scored.

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