Club boss’ take that
Man lucky to escape jail term after lashing out after Williams show
A FORMER cricket club boss had to be restrained after attacking another patron at a Robbie Williams concert in Geelong earlier this year.
The rock megastar had just finished his performance at Mt Duneed Estate on March 3 when Michael Battye and thousands of others were streaming out of the venue. A GEELONG coffee spot is spruiking itself as Australia’s first autism-friendly cafe.
The Treehouse cafe Geelong, tucked away in Little
Battye, 44, had been drinking heavily and lashed out when a man asked him to “back off” after noticing he was walking closely behind him.
Instead of obliging, the former Bell Post Hill Cricket Club president threw two punches at the man’s head before grabbing his neck.
A female bystander was also struck in the face in the ensuing struggle. Ryrie St, officially opened as an autism-friendly cafe yesterday morning.
Access Your Supports director Ralph Menchise said the cafe would provide a quiet atmosphere, carefully designed menu, a sensory room and
Patrons tried to restrain Battye before police arrived and deployed capsicum spray.
The metal worker was arrested for being drunk and disorderly and spent several hours sobering up at Geelong police station.
He later told police he did not recall the altercation but was nonetheless remorseful for his actions.
The Geelong Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday Battye trained staff.
“We looked at a number of different settings and things like that, but this is truly Australia’s first autism-friendly cafe,” Mr Menchise said. “Because we’ve got space designed, we’ve had nutritional consultants come in and look at our menu, and also feedback from people with an autism diagnosis.
“It’s nice and quiet. From had a history of swinging when he was drinking, with similar offending more than a decade ago while at a bucks night and a footy function.
On those occasions, Battye was charged with a range of offences including unlawful assault and recklessly causing injury.
However, his lawyer told the court the March incident at A Day on the Green was “different” to the previous cases, our little sensory area where kids can have a bit of a chillax, but also the staff have been trained to understand that kids will have good and bad days, and if there’s a bit of a meltdown happening, that’s OK.”
Autism advocate Chloe Hayden — known to her thousands of social media followers as Princess Aspien — was in attendance to cut the given Battye was at the event with his long-time wife.
“This was a family day out,” the lawyer said.
He urged the court to impose a fine, but Magistrate Steven Raleigh said Battye’s track record made jail time a likelier proposition.
“If his priors were any newer (than 13 years ago), he’d be going to jail today,” Mr Raleigh said.
“I’m not going to give him a ribbon to the cafe on Monday.
Ms Hayden said cafes were often difficult spaces for people on the autism spectrum.
“It’s really hard for people on the spectrum to find a cafe where they’re able to go to, where sensory things aren’t overwhelming. I guess cafes aren’t really made for people on the spectrum,” she said.
“There’s so many aspects that can make it really difficult, fine when he continues to assault people and continues to drink.”
Battye was convicted and must perform 100 hours of community work.
He was also placed on a 12month corrections order, requiring him to undergo treatment for alcohol issues. and I guess a place like this means that we have the opportunity to go somewhere where we do feel welcome and safe and where we have the opportunity to be ourselves.”
The Treehouse cafe will donate 50c from every drink sold to the Treehouse Foundation, an autism family support group.
The Treehouse cafe is located at 73 Little Ryrie St.