Toby Greene’s ‘thug’ father jailed for headbutting policewoman
The father of GWS star Toby Greene will not be able to watch his son play AFL football for two years after he was banned from licensed venues for headbutting a female police officer, who says the force was so great she “couldn’t see straight”.
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The father of Giants football star Toby Greene has been sentenced to nine months’ jail and banned from licensed venues for two years after headbutting a female police officer at the MCG on Grand Final Day.
Michael Greene, 60, of Ferntree Gully, fronted the Ringwood Magistrates’ Court earlier today to answer charges of assaulting an emergency services worker, public drunkenness, resist police, recklessly cause injury and committing an indictable offence while on bail.
Greene was found passed out in a toilet about 5pm after the Giants’ devastating loss to Richmond and was being escorted from the ground when he lashed out at police.
Constable Rachel Miller, in a moving victim impact statement read to the court, described how she was headbutted by Greene when called to assist a drunk man in the toilet after the game finished.
Constable Miller said the impact of the blow forced her to stumble back and she experienced immediate swelling, heat and felt nauseous.
She said she was taken to hospital after having trouble sleeping later that night and doctors feared she had a brain bleed because her blood pressure was so high.
Constable Miller, who had five days off work following the assault, said she’d since been uncharacteristically short tempered and snappy with people around her.
“The force was so great (when I was hit) … I couldn’t see straight and my ear was hot and ringing,” a visibly emotional Constable Miller told the court.
She said she now felt anxious and found herself “second guessing” herself on the job.
Constable Miller said police shouldn’t be seen as the “punching bags of society”.
“Until recently I haven’t had a day when I didn’t want to go back to work,” she said.
“It’s not OK for someone to assault someone at work.”
Greene’s defence counsel, Matthew White, argued his client had an acquired brain injury which affected his intellect and reduced his capacity to make decisions, leading to the assault.
Mr White said Greene had a “relatively little criminal history for someone who is 60”, and argued the injuries inflicted on Constable Miller were serious but not enduring.
“He’s finding his time in custody very difficult, he’s isolated, he’s frail,” Mr White said.
“It’s been particularly onerous on him already. Any further time would be difficult for him.”
Greene, who is estranged from his star AFL player son, was supported in court by two friends from his football days at De La Salle, where the court heard he was considered a club legend.
Mr White said Greene’s friends described him as a “friendly”, “courteous” person who was “not prone to violence”.
The court heard Greene had previously been given two community corrections orders for resisting police arrest in the past, and has priors for driving and dishonesty offences.
Legislation passed by the State Government last year means Greene faced a six-month mandatory jail sentence for assaulting an emergency services worker.
Magistrate David Starvaggi, in sentencing Greene to nine months’ jail, said he acted “like a thug” and his conduct was typical of a “boorish” personality.
“(The sentence) recognises the community being sick and tired of this sort of conduct … accordingly jail is the only disposition that is appropriate in the circumstances,” Mr Starvaggi said.
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Mr Starvaggi also slapped Greene with a two-year alcohol exclusion order banning him from licensed venues.
Greene has spent 62 days in custody not including today.
The Leader understands Greene has not had contact with his son for about two decades. The Giants star has previously said his parents split when he was aged “five or six”.