Melbourne Didi driver’s brutal alleged bashing at McDonalds
A Melbourne man will face a County Court judge after he allegedly bashed a delivery driver for demanding a steep tip, a court has heard.
South East
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A man will face the County Court after he allegedly bashed a delivery driver for demanding a steep tip, a court has heard.
Simon George, 23, will have his case uplifted to the higher court after the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday refused his application to be sentenced at a lower jurisdiction where the sentencing parameters are more lenient.
Court documents reveal George allegedly ordered the DiDi driver on September 6 to pick up a package from a Murrumbeena address.
George had earlier that morning sent a package to a woman using the same driver, but became incensed when the woman told him the driver demanded she hand over a $100 tip in exchange for the package.
George later told police he then made about 30 further delivery bookings before his job was eventually assigned to the same driver.
When the driver arrived, George and his older brother, Andrew, allegedly climbed into the man’s car and refused to get out, despite the driver’s protestations.
Frightened, the driver drove the men to a nearby McDonalds where he got out and went inside the restaurant and hid in a toilet cubicle.
The brothers followed the man inside and allegedly dragged him out of the cubicle before pummelling him and stealing $100 cash and the man’s mobile phone.
George’s lawyer Will May told the court his client had no priors for violent offending and the driver was not seriously injured.
But Prosecutor Zoran Petric, acting for the Office of Public Prosecutions, told the court George’s brother, who was allegedly with him at the time of the offending, was due to stand trial over the matter at the County Court and both men’s cases should be heard in the same jurisdiction.
He also told the court the victim had a right to feel safe while at work.
“The crown relies on the seriousness of the offending, mainly that it targets a ride share driver when he should feel safe in his employment,” Mr Petric told the court.
Magistrate McNamara uplifted the matter to the County Court.
George pleaded guilty to charges robbery, unlawful damage, weapon and drug possession.
The case was adjourned for a plea at the County Court on May 31.
