William Eastick told police he was shadow boxing, not attempting to assault schoolgirl

A 41-year-old Merbein man has given a bizarre excuse for an early morning attempted assault on a young girl walking to school.

The victim took shelter at Ritchies IGA Merbein, Commercial St.

A Merbein man who attempted to punch a schoolgirl as she was walking to school has claimed he was merely shadow-boxing, a court has heard.

William Eastick, 41, pleaded guilty to attempting to assault the child at Mildura Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

The court heard the victim was walking alone to school in Merbein on the morning of April 22 when the incident occurred.

Police said Eastick deviated from his walking line and took a swing at the student, with the punch missing because the student moved out of the way.

The victim fled from the scene without saying a word and took shelter in the nearby Ritchies IGA on Commercial St.

Eastick claimed he was shadow boxing and never tried to assault the girl. Picture: Generic

Workers at the IGA hid the girl in the back of the store and called police.

The court heard the victim said she was terrified of Eastick. 

Police found and arrested Eastick shortly afterwards. They said Eastick told them he remembered walking past a girl in a school uniform who he didn’t know, and that he started shadow boxing for no reason as she walked past. 

The court heard Eastick, who was supported by his mum in court, was on a disability support pension due to his battle with mental health issues.

Magistrate Michael Coghlan was at a loss as to what to do with Eastick, mentioning he had breached multiple community corrections orders in the past.

Magistrate Michael Coghlan gave Eastick a $1200 fine along with a warning to not return to court again or he would face jail Picture: Mark Stewart

“I thought it would be appropriate to give Mr Eastick a community corrections order, but that would be a complete waste of time, given he has had five or so of them in recent years and they have all failed,” Mr Coghlan said.

Ultimately, it was a report from Mildura Base Public Hospital detailing Eastick’s battle with schizophrenia that was the deciding factor in his sentence.

Mr Coghlan ultimately landed on a $1200 fine and said Eastick was lucky he didn’t make physical contact with the girl.

“Mr Eastick, if you assault another person and come back before the court, it’s likely the only penalty you will be receiving is immediate imprisonment,” Mr Coghglan said as he gave his sentence.

“Don’t come back before the court again, otherwise there is nowhere else for you to go except for jail.”