Re: [Melb] FSS Wheelchair incident - 2 years jail

["f.u.i.t.b.e.t" <fuitbet@yahoo.com.au>]

Good he was jailed...good to see justice in your state...up here they would
probably blame his childhood or some other lame excuse!!!
"Daniel Bowen" <dbowen@custard.REMOVE.net.au> wrote in message
MnPb6.81988$xW4.635810@news-server.bigpond.net.au">news:MnPb6.81988$xW4.635810@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
> http://www.theage.com.au/breaking/0101/25/A16393-2001Jan25.shtml
>
> Two years' jail over wheelchair incident
>
> Source: AAP|Published: Thursday January 25, 12:15 PM
>
>
> MELBOURNE, Jan 25 AAP - A 20-year-old man who pushed a wheelchair-bound
man
> on to railway lines as a train approached at Melbourne's Flinders St
station
> was today jailed for two years.
>
> Aaron Wade Austin was ordered to serve a minimum non-parole term of 20
> months for pushing 24-year-old Alan McGuirk on to the tracks.
>
> Austin pleaded guilty in the County Court to one count of recklessly
causing
> serious injury.
>
> The court heard Austin lost his temper and reacted impulsively when Mr
> McGuirk bumped him on the back of his legs with his motorised wheelchair
> after Austin had made a derogatory remark about his brightly colored
mohawk
> hairstyle.
>
> Judge James Duggan said Austin grabbed Mr McGuirk, who has cerebral palsy,
> or the controls of his chair.
>
> Austin's actions forced the chair off course and it toppled forward on to
> the track at Flinders Street station.
>
> Austin was 19 at the time of the incident at 4.30pm on August 25 last
year.
>
> The judge said the Crown accepted that Austin did not intend to cause the
> chair to fall and that Austin was among of the first to jump on to the
track
> to help lift Mr McGuirk back onto the platform.
>
> But he said Austin "deliberately interfered in an aggressive manner with
the
> operation of the chair in a situation of extreme danger".
>
> He said Mr McGuirk fractured his right leg, sustained cuts and abrasions
to
> his face and body and dislocated his left thumb.
>
> The incident had affected him emotionally, physically and psychologically.
>
> The court heard a train was just 60 metres down the track when Mr McGuirk
> fell. It was stopped by people jumping on to the track and flagging it
down.
>
>
>
> Daniel
>
> --
> Daniel Bowen, Melbourne, Australia
> dbowen@custard.REMOVE.net.au
> Melbourne public transport FAQ http://www.custard.net.au/melbtrans/
>
>