1. SNNEWS SHEPPARTON NEWS, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2015 5
Attack close to being fatal
DRUG-FUELLED ATTACK ON GOLF COURSE RESULTED IN MOOROOPNA MAN RECEIVING A CRACKED SKULL
By Elaine Cooney
Lucky to be alive: Brian McGee was a millimetre from death after he was assaulted by a ice-fuelled man on a golf course in 2013.
Mooroopna golfer Brian
McGee was a millimetre away
from death when an ice addict
ran onto a golf course and
smashed his skull with a golf
club two years ago.
The Bangerang elder, now
73, was playing golf with his
brother Lionel McGee and
mate Max Archer, when the
addict approached them.
He said the group was walk-
ing to the 16th hole, when the
addict, who was not wearing a
shirt or shoes, approached
them.
‘‘He just started abusing
us,’’ Uncle Brian said.
The man told the golfers he
would kill them and threw a
piece of wood at Uncle Brian.
‘‘I thought, ‘well this bloke is
totally serious’,’’ Uncle Brian
said.
‘‘He was very much on ice
— the eyes, he couldn’t focus
properly. I knew that this
bloke was on ice.’’
Uncle Brian said he had cal-
led police and continued with
the game.
‘‘I got to the tee — I had
good skill then — I was put-
ting for the birdie and I
thought, ‘Why is this happen-
ing now?’,’’ he said with a
laugh.
He said the man then
swung a golf club at him.
‘‘That’s all I remember.’’
He woke up in the ambu-
lance and remembered seeing
his brother, Lionel, distraught.
‘‘He thought I was going to
die — he had tears in his
eyes,’’ Uncle Brian said.
‘‘We’re very close — every-
thing we’ve done, we’ve done
together.
‘‘I asked the doctor how
close I was (to dying).
‘‘He said one millimetre
before I’m dead.’’
Uncle Brian suffered a crac-
ked skull, for which he needed
an operation, and had a steel
plate inserted.
The man who carried out
the attack was jailed for seven
years on Tuesday.
‘‘He’ll have some time to
think about it,’’ Uncle Brian
said.
‘‘I feel sorry for him, there’s
something wrong with the
man. He’s a bloke on ice.
‘‘We were open slather to
abuse.
‘‘You think you are enjoying
yourself and have been play-
ing golf for 20 years . . .’’
He said the most severe
effect was the memories of
the event.
‘‘My memory is probably
my worst enemy.
‘‘You’d be driving to Mel-
bourne on your own, thinking
about certain things and
you’ve got to pull up and con-
centrate.’’
However, he said the event
hadn’t caused him to become
afraid.
‘‘I’ve never been frightened
of anything.’’
Dookie speed
limit to change
The speed limit in Dookie
will be reduced after meet-
ings between the commun-
ity and VicRoads.
In response to a recent
truck rollover at the intersec-
tion of Dookie-Shepparton
Rd/Cosgrove-Caniambo Rd,
VicRoads will also revamp
warning signs and extend a
speed limit zone.
VicRoads was pleased with
the community’s partici-
pation in a recent review of
the speed limit in the town-
ship of Dookie, regional
director Bryan Sherritt said.
‘‘VicRoads received a num-
ber of road safety concerns
from the local community,
so we put the call out to the
community to provide feed-
back about a change in
speed limit,’’ Mr Sherritt
said.
‘‘VicRoads heard com-
ments from many commun-
ity members, with views
well-aligned and in support
of a speed limit change.’’
VicRoads considered all
the feedback from the com-
munity and will change the
speed limit from 60 km/h to
50 km/h through the Dookie
township.
Existing curve warning
signs will be revamped and
the 80 km/h speed limit ac-
ross the railway line towards
Shepparton will be extended
to include the curve.
Mr Sherritt said the chan-
ges would improve safety for
road users travelling through
the area.
‘‘We have consulted with
our road safety partners, Vic-
toria Police and Greater
Shepparton City Council,
regarding the changes and
they are supportive of these
safety improvements,’’ he
said.
The changes will be in
place by the end of 2015.
Crisp appointed as
deputy commissioner
Victoria Police Chief Com-
missioner Graham Ashton
has announced the appoint-
ment of Andrew Crisp as the
new Regional Operations
Deputy Commissioner.
Mr Crisp has been a Vic-
toria Police member for 37
years, and has performed a
range of operational, project
and specialist roles in Vic-
toria and overseas.
Chief Comm Ashton said
the appointment was well
deserved.
‘‘Andrew has proven him-
self to be an exceptional
officer over a long, distin-
guished career,’’ he said.
‘‘His experience and know-
ledge will complement the
executive command team as
we continue to work through
issues facing the Victorian
community.’’
Superintendent Debra
Abbott will replace Mr Crisp
as State Emergencies and
Security Command Assist-
ant Commissioner.
By Elaine Cooney
Second appearance
earns community
corrections order
A homeless man, 36,
who absconded from
Shepparton Magistrates’
Court last week after ask-
ing the magistrate to jail
him, reappeared on Mon-
day.
Daniel Salau was given
a two-year community
corrections order after he
pleaded guilty to burglary.
Police prosecutor Lead-
ing Senior Constable Kim
Thomson said on Decem-
ber 13 last year at
4.30 am, Salau knocked
the door of Shepparton
Liquor Works, causing it to
come off its rail.
She said he entered and
stole a slab of beer and
returned 20 minutes later
to steal three bottles of
liquor.
Ldg Sen Const Thom-
son said at 10.20 am
Salau returned again
and stole two bottles of
Sambuca and a slab of
VB beer.
Defence lawyer Shane
Appel said Salau was
homeless and had a
problem with alcohol.
He said Salau tended
to offend on a low level
when he ‘‘fell off the
edge’’.
Magistrate John O’C-
allaghan expressed his
intolerance for the cri-
mes Salau had commit-
ted.
‘‘My brother magi-
strate decided on a CCO
(community corrections
order) but I’d just send
you to jail,’’ he said.
IN BRIEF
Failure to wear seatbelt costs drivers
Tatura police are warning
people to buckle-up when
driving.
Tatura police Leading
Senior Constable Kevin
Ingram said two people
were caught driving without
seatbelts this month.
He said a Tatura man, 22,
was stopped in Thomson St,
Tatura on Thursday last
week and was issued with a
$303 fine and three demerit
points. Another Tatura man,
28, was stopped in Hogan
St, Tatura and was fined
$303 fine and lost three
demerit points.
Man jailed for seven years over attack
By Elaine Cooney
A Shepparton man, 36, has been
jailed for seven years for assaulting
an elderly man on a Mooroopna
golf course two years ago.
Shane Webster, of Yorkshire Cres,
pleaded guilty to intentionally in-
flicting serious injury, at the Shepp-
arton County Court on Tuesday.
The court heard Webster
approached the victim, who was
playing golf with two others at
Mooroopna Golf Course on Sep-
tember 21, 2013, when the victim
said he was just there to play golf
and told him to ‘‘p*** off’’.
‘‘You said you were going to get a
lump of wood and knock his head
off, and swung and hit the victim
on the left shoulder (with a tree
branch),’’ Judge Lance Pilgrim said.
‘‘Fifteen minutes later you
returned to the 16th hole . . .
brandishing a golf club and said
you were going to kill the victim.’’
Judge Pilgrim said the victim suf-
fered a depressed fracture to the
head and injuries to his right side.
He said the victim needed to have
the skull fragments surgically
removed from his head and in Feb-
ruary 2014 had a steel plate fitted to
offer protection to the ‘‘soft spot’’
on his skull which was vulnerable to
injuries.
Judge Pilgrim read medical re-
ports that stated Webster was intox-
icated on methamphetamine at the
time of the attack.
In the report, Webster told the
doctor, ‘‘It was the shard (ice) that
meant I didn’t back down from it —
I was off my face’’.
When told the man he attacked
was indigenous, Webster told the
doctor, ‘‘I didn’t see age, I didn’t
see colour. It wouldn’t have hap-
pened otherwise (without the con-
sumption of ice).’’
Judge Pilgrim read parts of the
victim impact statement to the
court.
It read the attack had not killed
the victim but had taken his health
and had contributed to him ageing
quickly. He felt like the ‘‘outgoing
fun poppy and independent father’’
had gone and his life was ending in
an ‘‘emotional, confusing rol-
lercoaster’’.
When handing down his sen-
tence, Judge Pilgrim took into
account Webster’s abusive child-
hood and the work he did with his
church but said his prospect for
rehabilitation was ‘‘guarded’’.
Judge Pilgrim said Webster had a
20-year history of violence, which
included 14 assaults with convic-
tions.
‘‘The fact that 14 convictions
related to assault (means) you are
just not learning,’’ he said.
Webster will be eligible for parole
in five-and-a-half years.