Barassi - A legend of the AFL
No one's safe these days.
Barassi beaten as he aids woman
Paul Millar January 2, 2009
AFL legend Ron Barassi was smashed to the ground and kicked in the head while he lay in the gutter after he went to the aid of a woman being bashed in St Kilda, early on New Year's Day.
Barassi, 72, was nursing bruised ribs, lumps on his head and a graze to the front of it, but had no regrets.
Barassi and his wife, Cheryl, had been welcoming in the new year with friends at a restaurant in Fitzroy Street when a man, who was part of a group, lashed out at a woman, sending her sprawling. "She nearly knocked my chair over," Mrs Barassi said.
"Ron just took off like a rocket after the guy, but we lost sight of him in the crowd."
One of the AFL's most decorated players said he remembered little of what happened after that.
"This woman and this bloke were blueing and then he was biffing her and I wasn't going to have that," he said.
"He took off and then I took off after him."
The next thing Barassi remembers is being helped up from the gutter.
"It all happened very quickly. He kicked me in the head and in the ribs, it was probably all over in 10 to 15 seconds," he said.
Mrs Barassi said the man who struck the woman, who was also drunk, was in a group of four.
She said it was hard to tell what happened after her husband chased the man because the crowd was so thick.
"But when we got to him he was doubled over," she said. "There were so many couples that came up to him and said 'Good on you for doing that'."
Until Nest time
Barassi beaten as he aids woman
Paul Millar January 2, 2009
AFL legend Ron Barassi was smashed to the ground and kicked in the head while he lay in the gutter after he went to the aid of a woman being bashed in St Kilda, early on New Year's Day.
Barassi, 72, was nursing bruised ribs, lumps on his head and a graze to the front of it, but had no regrets.
Barassi and his wife, Cheryl, had been welcoming in the new year with friends at a restaurant in Fitzroy Street when a man, who was part of a group, lashed out at a woman, sending her sprawling. "She nearly knocked my chair over," Mrs Barassi said.
"Ron just took off like a rocket after the guy, but we lost sight of him in the crowd."
One of the AFL's most decorated players said he remembered little of what happened after that.
"This woman and this bloke were blueing and then he was biffing her and I wasn't going to have that," he said.
"He took off and then I took off after him."
The next thing Barassi remembers is being helped up from the gutter.
"It all happened very quickly. He kicked me in the head and in the ribs, it was probably all over in 10 to 15 seconds," he said.
Mrs Barassi said the man who struck the woman, who was also drunk, was in a group of four.
She said it was hard to tell what happened after her husband chased the man because the crowd was so thick.
"But when we got to him he was doubled over," she said. "There were so many couples that came up to him and said 'Good on you for doing that'."
Until Nest time
posted by Friar at Friday, January 02, 2009
2 Comments:
Barassi bashing: charges laid
A 26-year-old man and a 15-year-old girl will be charged with assault over the bashing of football legend Ron Barassi in St Kilda on New Year's Eve.
A 26-year-old South Melbourne man has been released from custody but will be charged on summons with two counts of assault and one count of affray, Detective Sergeant Ed Logonder said outside St Kilda Police Station.
A 15-year-old girl, also from South Melbourne, has also been released from police custody and is due to be charged on summons with affray and assault-related offences, a police spokesman said.
Detective Sergeant Logonder said police believed up to four other people may have been involved and urged them to turn themselves in to police.
"As a result of the information received we expect to speak to a number of other people involved in this matter," he said. "Having said that if these people would like to come forward and speak to us, they're more than welcome."
Barassi, 72, was allegedly bashed by a group of men after coming to the aid of Tess Green, 43, who was assaulted in Fitzroy Street, St Kilda just after midnight on New Year's Eve.
The former Melbourne Football Club star had been dining at a restaurant with his wife Cherryl and friends when he saw a man allegedly strike Ms Green and leapt to her defence.
A group of men then allegedly turned on Barassi who was knocked to the ground and kicked in the head.
Barassi's face and ribs were bruised and his arm injured during the attack.
Barassi welcomed news of the arrest, but says he's hoping for more.
"I am very happy about that ... that is what we have a police force for, that is why we have a thing called law and order," Barassi told AAP. Continued..
The football great said he was beginning to wonder if anyone would be brought to justice.
"You tell me an arrest has been made, and that is great, but arrests with an 's' would be even better, because there were numbers of them,'' he said.
"I haven't seen the video enough times to count them, but I have heard three or four.
"These people have got to learn that the only place you can do or say what you like is on a deserted island, and once someone else arrives on that island you have got to learn to exist with them.''
Barassi said police had not asked him to try to identify the man who is in custody.
"I don't think they will. I couldn't even identify the woman, it all happened so quickly, and I was kicked around a bit. I wouldn't have a clue who it was,'' he said.
Barassi, who won six VFL premierships as a player with Melbourne and four as a coach with Carlton and North Melbourne, is considered one of the all-time greats of the game.
Detective Sergeant Logonder thanked the media and the public for their assistance in the case.
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