Wallaby defender assaulted by two men

COURTS: A man who saved a wallaby from the jaws of two dogs was assaulted by two men for his trouble, Yass Local Court has heard.

The victim has undergone reconstructive knee surgery and requires ongoing physiotherapy after a violent incident at Micalong Creek Reserve in Wee Jasper a year ago.

ACT man Rodney Vaughan Pratt, 37, of O’Connor, was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The court heard he and his step-father Colin Cullen had been riding quad bikes at the reserve between 3pm and 5pm August 23 last year, with two small dogs running ahead of them.

The dogs started chasing a wallaby and one dog bit the wallaby’s neck and the other bit its back.

The victim had been watching the incident unfold and began yelling at the dogs in an attempt to get them off the wallaby. He kicked one of the dogs and then both lost hold of the wallaby and it escaped.

Police said Cullen “went to the victim and began assaulting him, swinging punches with closed fists towards the victim’s upper body and head” in front of the victim’s wife and two other people picnicking at the reserve.

Pratt became involved in the altercation by tripping and pushing the victim to the ground and holding him there.

“When the victim was on the ground Cullen punched the victim twice to the head,” police told the court. The accused let go of the victim and he got off the ground, yelling at the men “get hold of your dogs mate, it’s a wallaby”.

Cullen and Pratt had verbal altercations with some of the witnesses before both men returned to their quad bikes and rode away.

The victim sought medical treatment at Duntroon Medical Centre the next day for a pain in his knee that required x-rays and magnetic resonance imaging.

A torn ligament in his left knee required reconstructive knee surgery on October 15, 2014.

“Part of that surgery was to remove two ligaments from one of the victim’s posterior thigh muscles (hamstrings) and use those ligaments to repair his knee. He requires ongoing treatment and physiotherapy to his knee.”

Pratt turned himself in to police on April 21 this year after being contacted by police.

He said during a record of interview that he did not see the wallaby being attacked by the dogs because he was travelling some distance behind Cullen.

He said he intended to stop his step-father and the victim from fighting but thought they were both punching each other and became protective of Cullen as the victim was larger.

He admitted tripping the victim and holding him on the ground for seven or eight seconds, but said he did not see his step-father punch the victim while he was holding him down on the ground.

Pratt was convicted and placed on a good behaviour bond for 12 months.

*The preceding matter was heard before Magistrate Caroline Huntsman at Yass Local Court on September 8, 2015.