Wednesday's news in 5 minutes.

1. Woman goes public about her abuse by a paedophile ringleader, and pregnancy at age 15.

BBC News – Rotherham grooming: Sammy Woodhouse, who was abused as a child, goes public https://t.co/I24SQsMEmC

— NAPAC (@NAPAC) March 21, 2017

Sammy Woodhouse was just 14 when she became the victim of 24-year-old Arshid Hussain, a man who was known as ‘Mad Ash’ and is now facing 35 years behind bars.

Arshid – who was married with children at the time – took interest in Sammy as soon as they met. Speaking publicly for the first time, the now 31-year-old told BBC Inside Out she quickly became “fascinated by him”.

“I remember sitting in his car and he stroked my face…it was like he’d put a spell on me,” she said.

A few months into their relationship – which authorities reportedly knew about – Arshid became physically abusive, controlling and possessive.

“He started hitting me on a daily basis. I knew I needed to get away from him, but he was like a drug and I kept going back,” she said.

“He’d hit me and he’d say ‘It’s only because I love you. Would you rather I didn’t love you?'”

Woodhouse – who fell pregnant with a son at just 15 – is speaking out about her ordeal, waiving her right to anonymity, to take action against the professionals who failed to help her.

“Police said that because I was consenting to it there was nothing they could do,” she said.

“I missed about nine months of my education. There were times when I was found in his bed… No one wanted to do anything, except my parents.

“I was always treated as his equal by the authorities – and not as his victim…We can’t move forward as a town until those professionals are charged and held accountable.”

Last year, Arshid Hussain and his brother Basharat were found guilty of 38 offences, including rape, indecent assault, abduction, actual bodily harm and forcing their victims to have sex with others.

It is believed the brothers – known as the Rotherham sex gang – groomed and sexually abused more than 50 girls.

2. Three-year-old boy killed after dad accidentally ran him over in driveway.

A three-year-old boy has died after being accidentally run over by a driver believed to be his father. #9News https://t.co/x8S8kqBIZ7

— Nine News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) March 21, 2017

A three-year-old boy has died after being accidentally run over by a driver, understood to be his father, in southern NSW.

The 41-year-old man had been behind the wheel when the car left the driveway of a home in Cootamundra on Tuesday afternoon, AAP reports.

The driver was unaware that the three-year-old had been run over and seriously injured, NSW Police said in a statement.

The boy was taken to hospital, where he later died.

“Police from Cootamundra Local Area Command attended and established a crime scene. The driver was located and has undergone mandatory blood and urine tests,” police said.

A report will be prepared for the coroner.

3. One Nation’s Pauline Hanson kills off government’s Omnibus bill welfare cuts.

Split bill aims to save package https://t.co/RU8MVymk6p

— The Australian (@australian) March 21, 2017

Pauline Hanson has killed off the federal government’s hopes of the Senate passing controversial changes to welfare payments tied to childcare reforms.

The Turnbull government has bundled together 16 welfare cuts, including a reduction to family tax benefits, in an omnibus bill, designed to save billions of dollars that would be redirected into childcare subsidies and disability funding.

The votes of Senator Hanson and her three One Nation colleagues in the Senate were critical to the passage of the legislation, but the One Nation leader said the cuts were too hard, too broad and too deep for Australian families, AAP reports.

She urged the government to turn its attention to tax-dodging multinational corporations.

“The Coalition needs to realise that before those with the least are asked to tighten their belts, those multinationals with the most need to start paying their way,” she said in a statement.

4. Passenger who ‘scared taxi driver to death’ jailed for 10 years.

A drug-fuelled taxi passenger who literally scared the driver to death during a terrifying journey has been jailed. https://t.co/4K85lu6ev8

— The West Australian (@westaustralian) March 21, 2017

A man who “terrorised” a WA taxi driver for half an hour until the victim had a heart attack and died has been jailed for 12 years.

Grant Lindon Collard, 50, was originally convicted of murder, but a retrial was ordered and he pleaded guilty to unlawfully killing 67-year-old Lindsay Ferguson in April 2013.

The WA Supreme Court heard Collard sat in the front passenger seat while three others sat in the back and during the journey, Collard behaved erratically.

He used a knife to repeatedly stab the front seats, and also kicked and stabbed the dashboard.

“You waved the knife around, shouting, kicking and being generally aggressive,” Justice Stephen Hall said on Tuesday, AAP reports.

The passengers tried unsuccessfully to calm Collard down and the taxi eventually stopped for a drug deal.

Mr Ferguson was twice prevented from leaving and his radio was thrown to the back of the car. When the taxi stopped again, the other passengers fled and called police.

But Mr Ferguson was held captive until he collapsed and crashed the car into the back of a truck.

Justice Hall acknowledged Collard had a long history of mental illness, including chronic schizophrenia, but also noted he was “extremely threatening and dangerous”.

“You terrorised Mr Ferguson and held him captive … your behaviour was so extreme, it caused Mr Ferguson to have a heart attack and die,” he said.

Referring to a victim impact statement from Mr Ferguson’s wife of 30 years, Justice Hall said the widow was traumatised.

He said Mr Ferguson had been a taxi driver for 16 years and in that time had driven a maxi taxi helping elderly and disabled people.

“Tragically, he had also recently become reconnected with a son and … was planning to drive across (to Tasmania) to meet with his son and grandchildren,” he said.

Collard must serve at least 10 years behind bars before he can be eligible for parole.

5. Quick-thinking Melbourne woman saves boy from the path of a train.

Woman rescues child on railway tracks from incoming train https://t.co/RHXLDkOrSu

— Your Railway News (@YourRailwayNews) March 21, 2017

A quick-thinking bystander has saved a young boy, believed to be around age three, from being hit by a train in Melbourne, The Age reports.

The boy was spotted wandering along railway tracks near Narre Warren station about 12.45pm on Tuesday, before a woman in her 20s sprinted onto the tracks and grabbed him.

Witnesses hid their eyes as boom gates began to lower and a V/Line train sped towards the station. After a few moments, the woman – who witnesses say was aged in her 20s – emerged with the boy in her arms.

“Her reaction time was just amazing; she was probably about 50 metres from the train line,” witness Louise Barnes told The Age.

“She seemed so heroic and brave. She just ran without regard to save that little boy’s life.”

The boy was unable to tell witness where his mum and dad were, and it’s not known what happened to him after the incident.

Metro Trains said it was aware of the incident but could not comment further because it was a police matter. A Victoria Police spokesperson did not have any other details.

6. 27-year-old man in custody after 17 hour stand-off over triple stabbing at a Sydney gym.

#UPDATE: A 17-hour stand-off with police has come to an end in Newcastle. #9News pic.twitter.com/1VZ0MenG9R

— Nine News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) March 21, 2017

A 27-year-old man wanted over a triple-stabbing and two armed robberies is in police custody following the end of a 17-hour siege.

The man came down from the roof of a Newcastle apartment block just before 5am on Wednesday. He had been perched on top of the Tighes Hill complex since midday on Tuesday, AAP reports.

He was checked over by NSW Ambulance paramedics before being taken to Newcastle Police Station, where he will be interviewed by detectives from the Robbery and Serious Crime Squad.

He is accused of stabbing three men at a northern Sydney gym on Monday night, driving off in a stolen car and committing two armed robberies at service stations.

It’s alleged the car belonged to Australian Rugby Union chief executive Bill Pulver.

No charges have been laid.

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