Gary Heron: Bundoora man allegedly found with child abuse material

A Bundoora man who allegedly fractured his friend’s skull after the mate made a shocking discovery on his computer has been freed with a highly unusual condition.

Heron has been banned from going within five metres of any child.

A Bundoora man who allegedly fractured his friend’s skull after his friend uncovered his child abuse material collection has been slapped with a highly unusual bail condition.

Gary John Heron, 47, fronted Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, facing a range of charges including recklessly causing serious injury, trespassing and resisting police.

Heron was hit with a raft of strict bail conditions, including that he not contact or go within 5m of any child — anywhere.

Magistrate Denise Livingstone warned him, “You’re not to go close to children”.

The court heard police had found he had 73 images of child abuse material on August 20 after Heron’s friend reported him to police.

Heron’s friend told officers he had found recordings on Heron’s hard drive depicting Heron performing sex acts near children.

The pair were allegedly arguing about the friend’s discovery when Heron allegedly struck the man to the back of the head with a metal g-clamp, causing him to fall to the ground unconscious and bleed significantly.

Heron allegedly ran to his neighbours, saying he thought he’d killed the man, who was then taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital with a severe cranial fracture and swelling and bleeding on the brain.

The court heard Heron was on bail for the alleged incidents when he skipped court in March.

Police went to arrest him on March 22 and allegedly found no one home, although they did allegedly find pornographic photos of women on a computer screen and meth in the living room.

They then allegedly found Heron hiding in a fridge in his garage, and he resisted when police arrested him.

The court heard Heron had also been caught trespassing at a Greensborough school during the night in July 2019 and was a long term ice user.

Heron’s lawyer told the court Heron would be fighting all the charges and risked spending too long in jail waiting for the matters to resolve, particularly with it being his first time in custody.

The lawyer said the Heron had vowed to go to his doctor and get a referral for sex offender and drug treatment.

Ms Livingstone said while Heron was accused of a “very serious child pornography matter”, there were exceptional circumstances for why he should be granted bail.

Ms Livingstone said stringent conditions were needed to make the risk of releasing him acceptable.

He was also ordered to report to Greensborough police daily, undertake weekly drug screens, pursue medical treatment, and not use any computer or telephone internet service except for online banking and communication with lawyers.

“It’s really no internet access,” Mr Livingstone confirmed.