Waylon Wenske, Corey Ashenden plead not guilty over Goornong campsite assault
A Bendigo grandfather has described how he pushed his eyeball back into its socket following an alleged savage assault at a Central Victorian campsite. WARNING: Disturbing.
A gang of masked men allegedly stormed a Bendigo family’s campsite because they were told to turn their music down, punching a grandfather’s eyeball out of its socket and traumatising his family.
Bendigo man Waylon Wenske, 26, and White Hills man Corey Ashenden, 25, appeared in Bendigo Magistrates’ Court to plead not guilty to the attack, 25km northeast of Bendigo, in 2019.
The court heard Brendan Leach, his wife, son, daughter-in-law and two grandsons were camping at the English’s Bridge camping area, Goornong, on October 5 when a group of unruly campers set up 30m away.
Mr Leach told the court his family was woken at 10.30pm by their neighbour’s blasting music.
The court heard the then 67-year-old and his son, Christopher Leach, 34, told their rowdy neighbours to turn down their music.
But it didn’t go down well.
“(The dreadlocked man) said ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you c—ts’,” Brendan said.
“It’s a Friday night, we’ll have our music up as much as we like”.”
It was alleged Christopher used his yellow workman’s torch to hit Wenske.
But his father said he did not see this, despite police reportedly later finding the yellow torch with Wenske’s blood on it.
Brendan said he punched the dreadlocked man, alleged to be Wenske, after he rushed at his son and grabbed him by the neck “in a throttle hold”.
The court heard after the scuffle the group continued to blast their music before packing up and leaving.
But the group allegedly returned at 2am.
“The lights were shining on our camp horribly... and there was yelling,” Brendan said.
“I knew they didn’t turn up in the middle of the night for tea and scones.
“We were in trouble.”
Brendan said there were five to six men wearing balaclavas running around the campsite.
His son Christopher said he tried to diffuse the situation, but when that failed he tried to get the “bandits” to follow him to get them away from his family.
His father, Brendan said he grabbed a spiked metal pole as he and his son “squared up” to an unmasked “big fella”.
He said one of the group yelled “come on you c--ts, we’ll show you what it’s like”.
Brendan said before he had the chance to swing the pole his attacker punched him in the head, near his eyebrow.
“It happened in the blink of an eye,” he said.
“It felt like my head exploded.”
Brendan said he blacked out, but when he came to there was blood “pouring out” of his head and heard chaos around him.
“I could feel something on my right cheek — my eye had popped out.”
“I pushed it back in with the heel of my palm.
“Blood was still squirting out of me.”
“(Christopher) was yelling ‘Dad, dad they’re going to run over you’.”
Christopher’s partner, Kathy Banert said by the light of the car’s headlights she saw the unconscious 67-year-old on the dirt road with two men standing over him.
Ms Banert said she heard the car engine rev but the vehicle did not move.
The court heard Christopher drove his family’s car and rammed into the revving ute in front of his father before driving off.
Ms Banert said Christopher drove off, but the group soon swarmed his car, battering it with poles, smashing the glass, ripping his shirt and dragging him out.
“He was screaming, he was in trouble,” Brendan said.
“They were kicking the tripe out of him.”
The court heard Christopher was able to escape but some of the group got into his car and rammed it into Helen and Brendan’s Toyota Hilux two to three times before driving off.
Mr Leach was flown to Royal Melbourne hospital with serious head injuries, and was treated for the loss of his eye and significant bruising across his body.
His son, Christopher was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Over a two day hearing four members of the Leach-Banert family were called as witnesses in the committal hearing at Bendigo Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday August 18 and Thursday August 19.
Ashenden and Wenske’s legal representative Michael Turner said Christopher Leach, an Iraq war veteran, had priors for violent assaults.
Ashenden pleaded not guilty using unlawful violence, recklessly causing serious injury, continuing to cause reckless injury after a person was incapacitated, and car theft and damaging property, and drug posession.
Wenske pleaded not guilty to affray by using unlawful violence, recklessly causing serious injury, continuing to cause reckless injury after a person was incapacitated.
Magistrate Russell Kelly extended their bail and ordered them to reappear at Bendigo County Court in October.
