Bunnings Epping: Michael Hibbert allegedly assaults employee
A personal trainer has been banned from a Bunnings Warehouse store after he allegedly assaulted a staff member. Police say the attack was to help his partner escape after she was allegedly caught stealing.
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A personal trainer has been banned from a Bunnings Warehouse store after he allegedly attacked a staff member, who then had to be taken to hospital.
Michael Hibbert allegedly fought the employee for three minutes, while his pregnant partner, who had allegedly been caught stealing, escaped from Bunnings Warehouse Epping.
The 30-year-old’s lawyer fronted Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, July 1, with Hibbert having been held in custody overnight.
The Wandong man was not brought to the courtroom after reporting he’d been exposed to a case of Coronavirus days earlier.
The court heard when Hibbert and his partner entered Bunnings Warehouse Epping on the evening of May 29 Bunnings loss prevention officers noticed him acting suspiciously.
Senior Constable Bangra said Hibbert was described as “bouncing around”.
Hibbert and his partner, who was carrying a large bag, then separated.
The court heard she filled a trolley for an hour before she went into the toilets, and came out with her bag appearing fuller and an emptier trolley.
Loss prevention officers allegedly found product packaging in the bathroom after she had been in there.
She paid for $68 of items before she was stopped at the register, where $222.65 of items were allegedly found in her bag.
The court heard she was told to sit at the front of the store while police arrived, but allegedly tried to get away.
During this time, Hibbert allegedly ran up to the store’s glass doors, which were locked because the store had closed, and allegedly appeared very aggressive to witnesses.
The court heard his partner got away from officers and hit the button to open the doors, before Hibbert ran in and allegedly attacked the officers.
Senior Constable Bangra said Hibbert allegedly scuffled with a male officer for three minutes while his partner escaped, before he followed.
The employee was left cuts, abrasions and abdominal pain and taken to Northern Hospital.
The court heard Hibbert was on bail after he allegedly took a razor blade into a court building.
Senior Constable Bangra said Hibbert had told police he was formerly a high-functioning cocaine addict.
Hibbert’s lawyer said his client allegedly attacked the officer to defend his partner, having allegedly walked up to see her involved in a scuffle with the plainclothes officers and staff, possibly believing she was being attacked.
He said Hibbert ran his own gym business, and was the father to an 11-year-old, with another child due in four and a half months.
The lawyer said Hibbert risked spending more time in jail on remand than he could be sentenced to.
Magistrate Stephen Ballek agreed, saying there were “triable issues” with the case.
He bailed Hibbert but banned him from attending Bunnings Epping.
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