WE NEED TO BE ARMED! AUSTRALIA!

[Kiwi]

We need to be armed and we need to be ability to protect ourselves, enough is enough f*cken wankers!
 

Beach brawl started over drinks

From - http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22974815-2,00.html

A GRANDFATHER was viciously beaten to death with his own bat while playing beach cricket after he challenged a group of men who were stealing drinks from his cooler.

Thugs pelted William John Rowe with beer bottles and then bashed him with the bat he and his family were using to play beach cricket on Christmas Day.

The brawl between the farmer and another group of Christmas revellers occurred about 9pm on Geraldton beach, north of Perth.

According to police, the 49-year-old father-of-five and his family were playing cricket when they were approached by a group of people.

A verbal dispute took place, with the group leaving the scene only to return later in greater numbers. It is believed Mr Rowe challenged the men when he caught them taking drinks out his cooler.

The crowd, suspected of being 25-strong, then attacked the family with beer bottles, rocks and sticks.

During the melee, Mr Rowe, a sheep farmer from Yalgoo, WA, was hit in the head with his own cricket bat, knocking him unconscious.

His 29-year-old future son-in-law Luke was slashed in the face with a broken bottle and had his jaw and collarbone broken.

Both were taken to Geraldton Regional Hospital where Mr Rowe died at 2.30am yesterday.

The younger man was still being treated yesterday and required 35 stitches to his face.

Mr Rowe and his wife Ellen had travelled the 350km from Yalgoo to Geraldton for the first time to celebrate Christmas with their adult children.

Last night friends were struggling to come to terms with his senseless death.

Shire of Yalgoo Council president and close friend Don Anderson said the community was devastated.

"I'm still numb, I just can't take in what has happened,'' Mr Anderson said.

"Bill was a wonderful person, a real community man. He wasn't the type to ever be mouthy or aggressive, he wouldn't harm anyone."

As yet no one has been arrested over the attack and police have made a public plea for witnesses to come forward.

Fear of reprisals in fatal clubbing

From - http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22974191-2,00.html

POLICE last night feared the fatal clubbing of a station owner - at a Christmas Day game of beach cricket - during a brawl with a large group of Aborigines could increase racial tensions in the West Australian town of Geraldton.

Bill Rowe, 49, died after he was hit on the head with his own cricket bat during a violent confrontation in which the younger male members of his family group of eight exchanged abuse and punches with up to 25 Aborigines on Geraldton's popular Sunset Beach.

The Rowe family was allegedly pelted with rocks and bottles as they fled about 9pm (WST); Mr Rowe was packing the family's gear into the back of his son's car when he was struck on the head with the bat.

He never regained consciousness and died at 2.30am yesterday at the Geraldton Regional Hospital.

Luke Neil, the fiance of Mr Rowe's daughter Violet, was in a serious but stable condition at Royal Perth Hospital last night after being hit during the incident with what police suspect was a large beer bottle.

He had a broken collarbone and fractured jaw and needed 35 stitches in his face.

Geraldton detectives were yesterday appealing for witnesses to come forward, and joined Mayor Ian Carpenter in expressing hope that the community's shock or anger at Mr Rowe's death would not prompt vigilante action or spike racial tension.

Detective Senior Constable Darren Winterbine said police were aware of the potential for more violence in the community. "This is something that we are certainly considering," he said.

"But the family are very level-headed and hopefully the community will allow us to do our job and apprehend the offenders."

Mr Rowe and his wife, Ellen, are well-known farmers who run Carlaminda sheep station at Yalgoo, 530km northeast of Perth.

They were playing an early-evening game of beach cricket on Tuesday with their five adult children - Gabriel, 26, Justin, 25, Violet, 23, Machin, 21, and Brenton, 20, and Violet's fiance Mr Neil, when, according to police, an inane comment sparked an altercation between Mr Neil and two passing men.

The pair left but returned soon after in a group of up to 25, aged between 12 and 20.

A fight broke out and Mr Neil was badly injured.

The Rowes were helping him to his car, and being pelted with rocks and bottles, when Mr Rowe was allegedly fatally clubbed over the head by a member of the larger group.

Mr Carpenter, a longtime resident of the port city, described Mr Rowe's death as deeply shocking and worrying.

He said Geraldton's reputation had suffered for years after an ugly riot in the main street in 1988 that followed the death in custody of Aborigine Edward Cameron, but the town had grown and changed since then.

"I consider Geraldton to be as harmonious as any other country town in Western Australia," Mr Carpenter said.

He extended his deepest sympathy to Mr Rowe's family.

Shire of Yalgoo President Don Anderson said Mr Rowe was quiet, likeable and hard-working.

He said he was a family man who had made significant contributions to Yalgoo through volunteering.

"He was always doing things for other people and for the community," Mr Anderson said.