An enraged Wangaratta man set upon a former employer and his family with a knife after a heated fight at a Glenrowan home, a court has heard. The defendant appeared at Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court last Friday pleading guilty to charges relating to the fight and other threatening behaviour within the rural city. The court heard on the morning of 12 February the accused confronted a former employer at a worksite in Glenrowan, wanting to be paid wages he believed were owed to him. After a confrontation where the employer feared a fight would break out, the accused left. About 2:30pm that afternoon the accused then attended his former employer’s home, demanding money. A son of the former employer heard the confrontation and came out of the house with a baseball bat. The accused revved his vehicle and yelled loudly at the son, before driving at him. He got out of the car, went up to his face and a fight broke out. He was restrained by the former employer’s 25-year-old son and told to go away, but the accused broke free and grabbed him by the neck, pushing him into a parked car. A colleague of the former employer told the Glenrowan man’s youngest son to call police as he grabbed the accused car keys out of his vehicle and helped restrain the accused. The Glenrowan man grabbed the accused in a headlock while his son and his colleague laid punches, before the accused was placed on the ground. After being given a towel by the men, the accused went into his car to grab a Powerade bottle and realised his keys were missing. He pulled a hunting knife out of his glove box, splashed his former employer’s son with the drink and pulled the knife out on him. The three men retreated inside and locked themselves in the house as the accused paced up and down the front porch, threatening to smash the door down. His car keys were given back to him and the accused left before police arrived. On 24 February the accused attended Wangaratta police with legal counsel for interview, where he was arrested and gave a written statement. Defence counsel Geoff Clancy said his client was set upon and badly assaulted, with the former employer’s colleague saying he couldn’t recall how many times he hit the accused. The man also pleaded guilty to threatening a woman and driving his ute at her, hoping to run her dog over late last year. The victim’s dog became roused as the accused let his dog off the leash walking down Burke Street. The man became agitated by the overly excited dog and confronted the woman, who was with her daughter. He went into his ute, with his partner and two other dogs, made an aggressive three-point turn and drove at the victim flashing his spotlights before braking and swerving. He told police when interviewed he had hoped to run over the woman’s dog if they were on the road. The court heard a tazer was drawn on the man by police in a separate incident on 26 January, when he made repeated threats towards a policeman and attempted to headbutt them in a police interview room, prompting an alarm. Mr Clancy said his client had relapsed into a drug addiction in November 2024 but says he has been able to stay clean since August as he went through rehabilitation. Magistrate Ian Watkins said he was troubled by the man’s anger issues and adjourned the matter for a deferred sentence on 13 February next year, in order to obtain a psychological report and for the man to continue his rehab. “It will probably be in your best interest for there to be no incidents between now and February,” he said.
