[Melb] FSS Wheelchair incident - 2 years jail

["Daniel Bowen" <dbowen@custard.REMOVE.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/