By-law “bash” writ

Hamish Heard
A man who claims a council by-laws officer assaulted him on Jan Juc Beach is suing Surf Coast Shire.
The man’s lawyer, Phil Hill, of Slater and Gordon, claimed his 49-year-old client was left battered and bruised after the attack in 2004.
Mr Hill alleged the fracas started after his client observed a council officer on a quad bike fining a family for walking its dog on the beach without a lead.
“He noticed the uniformed officer was talking to the people in a fairly heavy-handed way, so he commented to the officer that he would rather see someone’s dog on the beach than a motorbike,” Mr Hill said.
“(The council officer) apparently said to him ‘you’re under arrest’ and our guy walked off and was followed by the officer who subsequently assaulted him and pinned him up against a fence.”
Mr Hill said the alleged attack caused a deterioration of injuries the victim had suffered in a serious car accident.
“The incident caused trauma, severe bruising and soft tissue injuries and interfered with my client’s recuperation,” Mr Hill alleged.
He said his client was seeking unspecified damages to compensate him for pain and suffering as a result of the attack.
Mr Hill said the family who had been walking its dog witnessed the attack but left the scene in distress without giving details.
The lack of independent evidence had caused an earlier criminal case against the shire officer to collapse but Mr Hill was confident the civil action would succeed.
“We recognise that the vast majority of people associated with the shire do a good job and I have no doubt this was an aberration,” Mr Hill said.
He believed that the officer no longer worked at the shire.
“Nonetheless, we want to ensure there’s more effective vetting and training of staff so this never happens again,” Mr Hill said.
A council spokesperson said the shire was preparing to fight the allegations.
“We will be defending the claim and we are now seeking our own legal advice about the matter,” the spokesperson said.