Violence mars wakes at Lara

Hamish Heard
A bottle was allegedly thrown at a police officer and a woman was hospitalised after mourners from two separate wakes rioted at Lara Hotel this week.
Police units rushed from Geelong, Lara, Corio and Werribee to the wild brawl on Tuesday afternoon.
Geelong Sergeant Daryl Smallman said police arrested and charged a 19yearold Torquay woman with assault and resisting arrest. Police expected to charge several others over the fracas involving 180 mourners.
Sgt Smallman said the trouble started about 5pm after a large group of youths left a wake at Lara Sporting Club for teenager Kate Golding who died in a car crash last week.
A worker at the sport club said staff closed the bar at 4pm at the request of Kate’s mother.
“She wanted the bar closed because she didn’t want the mourners to drink themselves silly,” he said.
But Sgt Smallman said the plan backfired when the youths descended on the hotel where a small family wake was underway for elderly Lara man Mario Spiteri.
“They were holding their wake in the dining room when the other, larger group arrived and from what I can gather there was a confrontation which then escalated,” Sgt Smallman said.
Twenty police spent more than an hour subduing the brawling crowd.
“There were small scuffles and arguments breaking out all over the place. As you settled one down another would break out but we eventually settled them down and dispersed the parties,” Sgt Smallman said.
“You’d have hoped for a little more respect and empathy for the grieving of the other party.”
The late Mr Spiteri’s daughter, who did not want to be named, was distraught her father’s wake had descended into chaos.
“It was mainly the young girls who were the problem — they were ganging up and belting into older women,” she said.
“I felt disgusted this sort of thing could happen at a wake.”