Jailed over violent spree
Dad of nine shot son, headbutted woman
A NORLANE man has been jailed for at least three years for a spate of crimes that included accidentally shooting his son and headbutting a mother in front of her children.
Simon Gatt Sr, 53, was sentenced at the County Court on Wednesday to a prison term of up to 5½ years for a string of offences around Geelong.
Judge Felicity Hampel described some of Gatt’s actions as “frankly terrifying”, while she said the shooting could easily have resulted in someone being killed.
Gatt, a father of nine, has been in custody since August last year when he was arrested days after his 20-year-old son was shot in the leg.
The shooting happened when the pair grappled with each other during a heated argument outside their home on Taroonga Court, Norlane.
Gatt had been in possession of a loaded shotgun and it discharged while the men scuffled.
The victim was rushed to hospital and had surgery to remove more than 40 pellets from his leg.
Judge Hampel said the fact that no one was seriously injured or killed in the shooting was due to “nothing more than chance”.
After being charged, Gatt made a series of phone calls from prison in a bid to persuade his son to tell police he had shot himself.
He pleaded guilty to offences including recklessly causing injury and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Gatt was also sentenced on Wednesday for attacking a mother and her 17-year-old daughter at their home in Belmont.
The late-night incident happened in December 2019, when Gatt went to the address with two others over his belief that a 14-year-old girl at the home had stolen his daughter’s phone.
After the front door was opened, Gatt pushed his way inside and headbutted the mother, before striking the 17year-old girl to the face.
The group then left, yelling threats and smashing a car windscreen on the way out.
Judge Hampel said Gatt’s offending was particularly serious, given it involved deliberate blows to the head of a “defenceless” woman and her teenage child in their own home.
“It was an extraordinary level of violence and threats over an item as unimportant, in the scale of things, as a mobile phone,” she said.
Gatt denied involvement in the incident, but was found guilty by a jury on charges, including aggravated burglary and assault.
The court heard Gatt, a former mechanic, had a disadvantaged childhood and a long history of substance abuse.
Gatt has already served more than 18 months in custody, which will count towards his sentence.