Drink hours blast

gqxuugSource: Wangaratta Chronicle 22.08.08

Wangaratta magistrate blames venues for late night violence

A WANGARATTA magistrate has hit out at street violence in the rural city, believing its late night venues are the cause of the problem.

Magistrate John Murphy said in court this week there was continuously a high volume of violent offences to be dealt with, often involving alcohol, some of which were "horrific".

"I sit (right across the North East) and violence is a real issue," he said.

"And it’s often a real issue at these places that are allowed to open until ridiculous hours.

"It’s the police and the courts left to pick up the pieces - perhaps more so the police, they’re the ones at the coalface."

Mr Murphy made the comments after hearing how Wangaratta man Nathan Davern, 20, had left the Albion Hotel on Murphy Street at about 5am on September 29 last year, with two billiard balls in a sock hidden in his pocket.

Davern had approached and yelled at another male - who had assaulted him on another occasion earlier last year - and a crowd quickly gathered, spurring them on to fight.

Police intervened before any violence occurred, however, and the makeshift weapon was found on Davern’s person during a search - he told police it was because he "wanted to sort him (the other male) out".

The court was told that in a separate matter, on May 28 this year, Davern was at a friend’s White Street home drinking, when he struck him over the head with a beer bottle out of anger that he had been asked to leave because of his loud behavior.