Pensioner bashed, hoon fears grow

The pensioner (not pictured) suffered two black eyes, a black cheek, a fractured eye socket and rib injuries. 183859_01

By Kyra Gillespie

A violent altercation between a pensioner and a tradie has sparked wider debate about the issue of hooning in the quiet town of Maryknoll.

An elderly pensioner was at his Maryknoll home on the morning of Sunday 5 August when he spotted a loud Holden Commodore driving down the road in front of his house.

Apparently the man had been hearing cars ‘hooning’ around the town all day, and decided to take video footage of the Commodore to hand in to police.

When the driver of the Commodore, 22-year-old Kieren Whitfield, noticed he was being filmed he demanded the footage be erased.

It’s believed the confrontation resulted in a violent altercation between the elderly man and the 22-year-old, which a friend and neighbour of the pensioner said resulted in the Maryknoll resident sustaining “two black eyes, a black cheek, a fractured eye socket and rib injuries.”

“My neighbour said they spoke face-to-face before he turned away and that’s when he was smashed on the head,” he said.

“It makes you sick to think someone would king-hit a pensioner like that.”

The neighbour believes hooning is becoming an increasing problem in the small country town.

“P-platers come here and use Maryknoll as a racetrack,” he said.

“I had an altercation with a hoon myself just recently.

“It needs to stop before someone gets seriously hurt.”

However the alleged hoon has hit back at the allegations, claiming the scuffle was two-sided.

“I was going to my mum and dad’s house in Maryknoll to pick up a blower. I was in the work car which is a Commodore with quite a loud exhaust on it,” Kieren said.

“Apparently some kids had been hooning around all day, and this man thought I was one of them because when I was leaving he stepped out in the middle of the road with a pitchfork and started filming me.

“When I stopped and asked him to stop filming me he threatened to stab me with the pitch fork, and pushed me. So I pushed him back.”

According to Kieren, his push caused the man to fall onto his back. When he tried to help him up, he says the man kicked him in the mouth.

The subsequent affray resulted in injuries to both Kieren and the pensioner.

“You don’t get threatened and kicked in the mouth and do nothing about it.

“I feel terrible about it, and I wish I didn’t stop, but people need to know that this is not a one-way story.”

After the incident, Kieren said he went straight to the police station to tell his version of events.

Acting Sergeant Abbey Stooke, of Pakenham Police, told the Gazette police were yet to finalise the extent of the injuries sustained to both parties before any charges were laid.

“Kieran has done the right thing by handing himself in after the altercation,” Acting Sgt Stooke said.

“We don’t believe there were any witnesses, so all we have at the moment is one person’s word against the others.

“The investigation is still active and we are yet to confirm what happened with both parties.”

While Kieren may or may not have been hooning at the time of the row, the incident has sparked wider discussion within the community, with Maryknoll residents taking to social media with concerns that hooning is becoming more frequent in the area.

“It has come to the attention of many of the community the sudden rise of hooning,” Lisa Merigan said.

“[There are] multiple older commodores hooning around town doing burn outs everywhere all day long.

“We all have a right to use the streets around town without idiots driving around like that.”

“I love seeing kids getting outside on beautiful days with their mates and would hate to take that freedom away from them because we can’t trust drivers on our roads. That’s not what living here is all about,” Tory Parker added.

“It’s only a matter of time before someone gets killed,” another wrote.

Some came to the defence of the hoons, attributing the problem to the town’s lack of activity.

“There isn’t much to do in Maryknoll for this age group,” Elaine Leo said.

“They have to travel for any sort of entertainment… it is a secluded town with no public transport. There is good and bad and as the town grows it will get worse.”

Cardinia Highway Patrol members have since debunked claims of an increase in hoon activity in Maryknoll.

“We have not had any recent complaints of hoon activity,” they said.

“There’s been nothing out of the ordinary.”

Police encourage people to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 if they witness any suspicious or disruptive activity.