COURT TOLD OF VIOLENCE

Party crasher allegedly hit woman with bottle, attacked men with wooden stake

A NORLANE man attacked two men with a wooden stake after being kicked out of a backyard birthday party he gatecrashed in Lovely Banks, a court heard yesterday.

Michael Robinson, 21, was allegedly part of a group of up to eight uninvited guests that stormed into the property on Nolan Place about 11pm on May 12.

Geelong Magistrates’ Court was told the interlopers pelted the home with rocks and glass bottles, leaving a damage bill of almost $8000 after smashing a glass table and damaging two cars.

Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Victoria McPhee alleged one of the bottles thrown by Robinson hit a woman at the party in the head.

She said the accused man also took to two men with a wooden stake after they tried to get him to leave, breaking the weapon on one victim’s head.

Although almost five months have passed since the incident, Robinson, who was on bail at the time, was only charged at the weekend.

He was held in custody, and successfully applied for bail yesterday before a return court appearance today.

The court heard the man was granted bail by police in April after being charged with arson, and accused of setting a $20,000 vehicle alight.

His list of outstanding court matters also includes allegations of a burglary in Lara, an aggravated burglary in Geelong and multiple counts of car theft and driving disqualified.

But defence lawyer Niamh Harrington said “a lot has transpired since this offending”, arguing the exceptional circumstances threshold Robinson had to meet to justify bail could be reached through a combination of his changed behaviour in recent months.

She told the court the man was no longer drinking or doing drugs, now had a fulltime job as a roof tiler, had been performing well on the court integrated support program, had reconnected with indigenous services, and had a stable relationship and accommodation.

Magistrate Roslyn Porter said the charges he faced were serious, and warned the man to stay away from the wrong crowd.

But she found he had qualified for bail.

“If you are to keep doing what you are doing … the risk (of reoffending) is not at an unacceptable level,” she said.