Ballarat man Connor Keating punched, choked, bit police officer during arrest

A police officer tried to yell for help while being choked by a Ballarat man but was unable to speak or breathe; he could only make a gurgling sound.

Connor Keating, 23, appeared in Ballarat County Court on Thursday, February 3, 2022.

A Ballarat man punched, bit, and choked a police officer until he could only make gurgling sounds, a court has heard.

Connor Keating, 23, was sentenced to 509 days’ jail, already served, in Ballarat County Court on Thursday after earlier pleading guilty to assaulting an emergency worker on duty.

The court heard on September 12, 2020, police went to a house in Mount Pleasant.

Before the officers got out of their car, Keating sprinted towards them, yelling about their high-beam headlights.

When the officers attempted to arrest Keating, he did not comply and they used capsicum spray on him.

Keating threw punches, hitting the head of one officer with whom he wrestled on the ground.

Keating got on top of the officer, placed his left arm around his throat, and squeezed.

The officer tried to yell for help but was unable to speak or breathe; he could only make a gurgling sound.

During the scuffle, Keating punched the officer four times to the side of the head and bit his hand.

Another officer shot Keating twice with a taser, after which Keating released his grip on the man he had choked.

“I didn’t mean to strangle him,” he was reported to have said.

“I know you guys are doing your job. I just get angry.

“I’m going to go back to jail, aren’t I? I shouldn’t have strangled him.”

Police found 4.7g of cannabis in a backpack owned by Keating, and he was taken to the Ballarat Police Station.

Keating’s childhood was described in court as “chaotic” and “disadvantaged”.

The court heard his parents were drug addicts, and Keating had neonatal abstinence syndrome owing to his mother’s heroin use.

As a child, Keating was physically abused by his father at the behest of his mother.

At school he was bullied for having holes in his shoes and for being “poor and unclean”.

He struggled academically, was diagnosed with ADHD, and was described as “largely illiterate”.

Keating’s mother died when he was 19 years old, and Keating has made several attempts at his own life.

Recently he has worked as a bricklayer and at an abattoir, and in future would like to work as a gardener.

Judge Trapnell said that although Keating was “undoubtedly regretful”, there was insufficient evidence that he felt “true contrition”.

Nevertheless, he said Keating had “the potential to be redeemed and rehabilitated”.

“I also accept you have had a deprived upbringing … which calls for some moderation of sentence,” Mr Trapnell said, telling Keating he was “not an appropriate vehicle for making an example to others”.

Aside from the prison term, Keating was sentenced to 400 hours of unpaid community work and must complete rehabilitation programs.