By CAMERON LUCADOUWELLS
A MAN was refused bail after earlier failing to appear in court over public drinking, theft and the brutal bashing of a female Good Samaritan at Dandenong Park last year.
Jang Bir, 22, of Endeavour Hills was the subject of four outstanding arrest warrants when he fronted Dandenong Magistrates’ Court last Monday.
Police informant Senior Constable Lara Murray of Greater Dandenong Crime Investigation Unit told the court that Bir had been part of a group drinking session from mid-afternoon to late at night when the bashing occurred in Dandenong Park on 14 March.
The victim suffered a broken left eye-socket, two broken teeth, a broken little finger and multiple bruising and swelling as a result of the attack, she said.
The victim, a nurse in her 40s, had earlier stopped to inquire into the well-being of an unconscious female at the scene.
She was told to leave but later returned, asking if the drinkers had checked if the woman was breathing and had vital signs.
Senior Constable Murray told the court that Bir then allegedly punched the victim in the face.
Members of the group then stomped and kicked the victim’s head as she lay on the ground.
As she tried to crawl away, the victim was dragged by her hair back into the fray.
An eye-witness observed the victim bleeding from her head, Senior Constable Murray said.
The bashing allegedly occurred 10 days after magistrate Greg Connellan bailed Bir for public drinking and theft offences, ordering him to complete a Salvation Army positive-lifestyle program.
He was later dismissed from the weekly program for non-attendance.
Senior Constable Murray told the court Bir had been taken to Dandenong police station for being drunk and disorderly in a public place more than 50 times.
He failed to appear to answer charges at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on 8 October, his defence lawyer last Monday claiming Bir had been bashed with a bottle six days beforehand.
In arguing for her client’s bail, the lawyer said Bir was still young and had no prior convictions for personal violence.
He had just started treatment at Victorian Rehabilitation Centre for a brain injury, “serious abrasions” and a “serious fracture” to his left leg, suffered after a car hit him as a pedestrian on 14 December, she said.
Magistrate Julie O’Donnell ruled Bir’s health issues didn’t outweigh the four outstanding warrants and the “particularly serious” alleged assault.
Bir was remanded in custody until he appears at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on 17 February.
