Assistant coach’s reversal leads magistrate to offer some advice

BELL Park Cricket Club has been urged to scrap its reverse raffle after members were involved in a brawl at a hotel in Geelong after last year’s event.

The club’s assistant coach, Jamie Spiller, 23, faced Geelong Magistrates’ Court yesterday, pleading guilty to affray, unlawful assault, criminal damage and offensive behaviour.

The court heard Spiller committed the offences after being ejected from the Barwon Club Hotel on November 20 following a day of heavy drinking at the club function.

After being kicked out, he urinated on a shopfront door, damaged a parked car and tried to re-enter the hotel.

The court heard a brawl broke out when he was barred by security, with Spiller and up to 15 of his clubmates involved.

Prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Geoff Lamb said three hotel staff suffered minor injuries, and one senior worker described it as one of the “most frightening” incidents of that kind he had been involved in.

Interviewed by police two months later, Spiller said he had drunk 15-20 heavy beers at the club function.

Magistrate Frank Jones was unfamiliar with the concept of a reverse raffle until it was explained to him in court.

Mr Jones heard such functions ran for a number of hours, with tickets drawn until the last person standing wins the major prize.

“That type of reverse raffle; that’s encouraging (excessive) drinking,” the magistrate said.

“I think he ought to change the nature of the fundraiser.”

Accepting he was acting out of character, Mr Jones decided not to convict Spiller, in part because he was told the man wanted to return to England for a winter playing cricket.

He also knocked back the police application to have Spiller excluded from licensed venues in central Geelong.

However, he ordered the man pay $350 compensation to the owner of the car he damaged, and fined him $2000 with $100 costs.

“I’ll give you six months to pay it; perhaps you can have a fundraiser to pay that,” the magistrate said, joking.