The court case in Bendigo is ongoing
An ongoing court case in Victoria has once again thrown a spotlight on the wisdom – or otherwise – of getting into disputes with people with whom you share a campsite.
Brendan Leach, a 70-year-old grandfather, lost vision in one eye when he was attacked while on a camping trip with his family in regional Victoria three years ago.
The court in Bendigo heard Mr Leach’s son, Christopher, had earlier been involved in a brawl with two men following a dispute about the volume they were playing music at their site at English Bridge campground in Goornong near Bendigo.
The two men reportedly left the campground but returned with two others at 2am, when the attack on Mr Leach took place.
According to a 9News report, Judge Mark Gamble said Christopher Leach’s actions in confronting the men about the music were provocative, but did not excuse the offenders’ decision to return to the campsite for a fight.
“That sort of vigilante-type response is to be deplored and discouraged for obvious reasons,” he said.
Thankfully, these sorts of incidents are extremely rare in Australia, but it’s another case which serves as a reminder to grey nomads that you never really know who you are camping near … and that it can be extremely unwise to get involved in campsite disputes.
But where do you draw the line?
In August last year, two young women who were viciously attacked by a group of teenagers in a busy Kimberley caravan park, said they were shocked when no one came to their assistance … despite it only being 9pm.
The women eventually escaped their attackers and ran to the nearest caravan at the park in Fitzroy Crossing.
“When we got there an older couple opened the door and the husband stepped out, and the lady said, ‘Come back inside, it’s too dangerous out there’,” one of the women said. “They were too scared themselves, and yet happy to leave two teenage girls out there.”
The two terrified women were left bloodied, bruised and shaken and their car was stolen … but things could obviously have been a lot worse.
So, should grey nomads have done something?
Probably not, according to the West Australian police.
“We ask the public to always consider personal safety above all else,” a police spokesperson told the Grey Nomads website at the time. “We recommend getting as detailed a description as possible and a direction of travel and relay this information to police as soon as possible … importantly, if people feel their personal safety is at imminent risk, they should always phone 000.”
And the spokesperson warned that while so-called citizen’s arrests are lawful in some circumstances, if all of those required circumstances are not met, the member of the public could find themselves liable to prosecution of a serious offence.
“The law states that the member of the public can detain someone but must arrange for police to attend and deal, or where practical can take the person to the police,” said the spokesperson. “We accept that people sometimes make decisions on the spur of the moment and sometimes the decision to pursue or apprehend a suspect may be the right decision, dependent on the circumstances and their own physical capabilities.”
If it is considered provocative to ask someone to turn the loud music down then how are you supposed to ask anyone to stop doing anything that is causing a problem to others.
I was told years ago if you are being attacked or harassed and it seems to a dangerous situation it’s best to scream out very loud “help, help fire, fire help someone” and keep repeating it, if people around close will hear this and most people are afraid of fire and will run towards the sound and want to help. This will surprise and scare the attackers and should scare them off, this would work in a caravan park or free camp because the fact that a fire can be devastating for all, I have been wanting to try it but I might get a punch in the head from the rescuers. I have told my kids to use this if they are in any situation they think is dangerous.