Shepparton’s Brayden Donnelly jailed for assaulting police officer

A Shepparton man who menaced police with a knife forced officers to pull out tasers and a gun during a wild incident in the middle of the street

A Shepparton man has been sentenced after a threatening altercation with police in February.

A Shepparton man armed with a knife threatened to stab police who were forced to draw a gun and tasers during a “frightening” incident in the middle of a street, a court has heard

Brayden Donnelly, 31, appeared in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday to be sentenced having earlier pleaded guilty to assaulting an emergency worker and threatening injury to prevent arrest and drug and weapons charges.

On February 5 this year police were called to Watson St after multiple triple-0 callers reported a man walking around armed with a knife.

Officers saw Donnelly in the middle of the road carrying a knife and extendible baton which they asked him to drop.

When he refused they gave chase and Donnelly threatened police, including turning around and approaching an officer who had tripped with the knife raised.

Eventually Donnelly stopped and surrendered the weapons after one officer drew their gun and others deployed their tasers.

Magistrate Olivia Trumble said Donnelly had mental health issues and a difficult upbringing which had led to drug use and anti-social behaviour.

Brayden Donnelly appeared in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court for assaulting an emergency worker and threatening injury to prevent arrest.

“The best way to protect the community is to get him the support he needs but I’m not sure that addresses the seriousness of the offending,” she said.

“You just have to watch the footage and hear the victim impact statements read at the last occasion to understand and appreciate the impact this had on the officers.”

Ms Trumble said Donnelly was “frightening” people with his behaviour and “undermined” the role of police officers by threatening them and putting them in harms way.

“You behaved in a way that is unacceptable and won’t be tolerated,” she said.

“You can’t change it but you can do better in the future.”

Ms Trumble said Donnelly needed a lot of help and while a non-parole sentence was tempting there was no guarantee he would then get help upon release.

Donnelly was sentenced to 11 months in custody, with 139 days already served, and an 18 month community corrections order.

The order includes conditions to access treatment for drug abuse and mental health, disability supports and offender behaviour programs.