Cut out drunken acts, says surgeon

Alex de Vos
A prominent Geelong surgeon has joined Newtown residents’ fight to curb drunken hoons in their street.
Vascular and endovascular surgeon David McClure said he was outraged after vandals caused thousands of dollars worth of damage to his son’s 1984 Mercedes Benz while it was parked outside Mr McClure’s Skene Street home on Saturday night.
Mr McClure said the vandals smashed the rear windscreen, broke wipers and indicators, stole the Mercedes badge and damaged the passenger door during a late-night, drunken rampage.
The attack followed an Independent report last week revealing Skene Street residents were living in fear of drunken revellers using the leafy thoroughfare as a route between drinking holes and home.
The report said frightened residents had complained of increasing vandalism, property destruction, attempted assault, excessive noise and public drinking. The incidents had escalated to a recent knife threat against an elderly resident, prompting residents to demand police action.
“People are amazed that this activity would occur in Newtown but it’s a very regular occurrence,” Mr McClure said.
“But no action is being taken to curb this kind of behaviour.
“This generation – the young people fuelled by alcohol – are not being held accountable.”
Mr McClure blamed a police shortage on the rise in street violence.
“The police we have are doing a great job but they’re clearly limited.”
Skene Street’s Peter Sullivan told the Independent last week he was fed up with the weekly attacks and was growing tired of cleaning up after boozy vandals. He pointed the finger at revellers in their early 20s on their way home from pubs or Geelong train station.
Mr Sullivan believed the aggressive drunks were rampaging along Skene Street on their way to homes further west around Shannon Avenue.
Mr Sullivan, who has lived in the same street for 10 years, said the attacks had become more frequent and severe over the past three months.