A magistrate has condemned two men for “vigilante justice” after they bashed another man while he was in his bed because they believed he had assaulted a female friend.
Gerard Watson, 36, and Mitchell Younger, 30, both from Tatura, have been sentenced in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court over the assault, which occurred on October 13 last year.
Watson pleaded guilty to intentionally causing injury, while Younger pleaded guilty to recklessly causing injury.
The court had earlier heard that Watson and Younger had been drinking with friends in the evening when they “were told a version of events” about an incident involving the victim they attacked and one of their female friends.
During that conversation they formed the opinion that the man they attacked was a “woman basher” and decided at 3am to go to where he was living to “teach him a lesson”.
The court heard the pair found the victim in bed at his Tatura home and that Younger punched him half-a-dozen times in the head, before Watson repeatedly struck his torso with a golf club he had brought with him.
During sentencing on Friday, August 18, Magistrate Ian Watkins said he accepted both had pleaded guilty and that they were genuinely remorseful.
He said of Watson that he appeared before the court without any prior record, that at the time of the assault he had been drinking alcohol to cope with anxiety and that he now abstains from drinking alcohol.
Mr Watkins also noted that Watson had an excellent work history and that his colleagues spoke of him in glowing terms.
Of Younger, the magistrate said the offending was very much out of character and noted that he was financially supporting his American wife, who was studying law in America and that he wanted to join her there.
Mr Watkins also noted that Younger had sought psychiatric help since the offending.
However, he also said the victim had since been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and been unable to work since the attack.
In a victim impact statement tendered during the case, the victim said his life had “forever changed” and he had left his home and his job since then “because I no longer feel safe”.
Mr Watkins dismissed a submission that a fine would be sufficient, saying it did not address the “gravity of the offending”.
“The police were involved and you had no right to get involved,” Mr Watkins said.
“It was an example of vigilante justice.
“In our society crime is handled by the courts.”
He sentenced Watson to a community corrections order of 12 months and 120 hours of community work.
Younger was sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order and 100 hours of community work.
Mr Watkins said the difference in hours ordered reflected the difference in the charges faced by each man.
The orders were made without conviction.