Tony McEwan cleared of dousing toddler with petrol in Wollongong home

A Wollongong man accused of yelling ‘let her go blind’ after pouring petrol over a toddler has had the case chucked out after the complainant failed to front a hearing.

Wollongong man Tony McEwan was cleared of serious charges on the day of his hearing. Picture: Facebook

A Wollongong man who was accused of dousing a toddler with petrol has been cleared after the charges were withdrawn and dismissed on the day of the hearing.

Tony McEwan appeared in Wollongong Local Court on Monday after pleading not guilty to three counts of common assault, destroying or damaging property and stalking or intimidating a person with the intent of causing fear of physical harm.

The matter arose in June, last year, when McEwan was arrested at an address in Wollongong.

It was alleged McEwan was having an argument with the toddler’s grandmother when she barricaded herself and her grandchild in a room.

Police accused McEwan of kicking the door in and pouring a brown glass bottle filled with petrol over the toddler, with documents previously tendered in court stating he allegedly said “let her go blind”.

The documents stated the woman escaped to a neighbouring address and contacted police who attended to find McEwan who was described as “quarrelsome and aggressive” while his speech was slurred and he had trouble clothing himself.

After he was arrested and as he was walking out of the house, he allegedly said, “Youse (sic) will be back here for a f-----g murder mate, I’m tellin ya”.

In court on Monday, the matter was ready to proceed to hearing for a second time, however, the complainant failed to appear which made her domestic violence evidence in chief inadmissable.

The last-minute development forced police to withdraw the charges with Magistrate Gabriel Fleming dismissing the case.