Jarrod Davies mourned after nightclub attack ends in pier death
Fun-loving Victorian dive instructor Jarrod Davies rang his dad after being attacked in a Hobart nightclub. What happened in the moments after that harrowing call has left his family shattered.
VIC News
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A grieving dad has detailed a harrowing last phone call as his son staggered along Hobart’s waterfront after a nightclub attack.
Jarrod Davies, 27, a dive instructor, was found dead in the River Derwent two days after phoning his father dazed and disorientated.
Rob Davies told the Sunday Herald Sun the three-minute conversation with his fun-loving son would stick with him forever.
“It is not easy knowing your son died seconds after you spoke to him,’’ Mr Davies said. “We have had our lives ruined. It will never be the same.
“He was my best mate.”
Jarrod, of Leongatha, southeast of Melbourne, sustained a head injury in the alleged assault and, in a state of confusion, is believed to have walked into the water after mistaking the lights of a cruise ship for an ambulance.
Mr Davies now wants security guards to patrol Hobart’s waterfront amid a spate of similar incidents.
Only last week a man aged in his 20s was found struggling in the water at Elizabeth Street Pier where Jarrod died, while a medical trainee drowned barely 500m away three months earlier.
While rails weren’t feasible the Davies family said there was a lack of rescue buoys and ladders in the area, which has several nightclubs trading into the early hours.
“Jarrod could still be alive today,’’ Mr Davies said. “There is a pattern there. It’s like having nightclubs on the edge of a railway line.
“Someone’s going to get hit by a train at some stage, aren’t they?
“Wherever you’ve got nightclubs you’re going to have fights, you’re going to have drugs and you’re going to have excessive drinking.
“It seems to be insufficient safety and security around the waterways.
“To me it’s just a death trap to go down there.”
Jarrod’s mum Jill Davies said: “We can’t bring him back but if it can prevent any family going through what we are going through that is what we want.”
“It’s your worst nightmare,’’ she said. “Never in our wildest dreams would he drown.
“He was comfortable around water. It’s just surreal. I haven’t come to grips with it yet.
“He was just so energetic. He lit the room up.”
Jarrod was in Tasmania on a 10-day marine survival course to help get a dream job on superyachts in Italy.
His dad flew over for the weekend, the duo enjoying a night out together on February 8.
Jarrod left his dad at their hotel about 9.45pm. He phoned about 1.15am, having been in an altercation and allegedly assaulted at the waterfront venue Observatory Bar.
Mr Davies, unaware of the attack at the time, said his son was barely coherent.
“I just couldn’t understand him,’’ Mr Davies said.
“I tried to encourage him to get back but the state he was in he never had a hope in hell of getting back.
“After quite a period of time he composed himself. He just said: ‘Oh look Dad, the ambo’s here now. I gotta go’. And he hung up on me.
“I tried ringing probably half a dozen times after that. I knew in my heart something was wrong.
“I hadn’t realised at the time Jarrod had taken one hell of a hit to the head.
“There’s no doubt in my mind if Jarrod wasn’t haemorrhaging he definitely had severe concussion or something — he just didn’t know where he was.
“My son was a qualified diver, a master diver, a diving instructor.
“He’s done over 2000 dives and he’s very good at free diving. He could walk on water.
“Jarrod was so mentally out of it — he didn’t know water from concrete.
“My son never had a chance. He was on a death walk.”
Jarrod was so popular in Leongatha, where he worked with the family’s carpet cleaning business when back home, his funeral was held at the local football ground to accommodate the more than 400 mourners.
His favourite saying was ‘living the dream’ — boarding 26 flights and travelling to 19 countries last year alone. He had worked in Fiji and Thailand.
“We don’t wish any other parents to go through this,’” Mr Davies said.
“It is a hole that can’t be filled. You just can’t believe you could go from such a perfect world to a nightmare in one hit.”
TasPorts, which manages the waterfront, pointed to a previous statement which said safety was a priority and subject to continuous review. Existing measures included strategically placed ladders, lifebuoys, lighting and CCTV.
Hobart City Council general manager Nick Heath said it would work with TasPorts to see if improvements could be made along the waterfront.
“Hobart is a city with a vibrant nightlife and the safety of people moving around the city – whether they are local or visiting – is always a concern and a priority,’’ he said.
A Hobart man, 28, will face court this month charged with common assault.
The family, also including Jarrod’s sisters Jess and Rebecca, thanked Tasmania Police along with Ibis Styles Hobart’s staff and driver for providing accommodation and transport during the ordeal.
HOW IT UNFOLDED
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7
Jarrod and his dad meet in Launceston.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8
10.30am The pair drives to Hobart, venturing to the casino in the evening.
9.45pm The pair gets an Uber back to the Ibis Styles Hobart hotel. Jarrod changes his shirt and gets the same Uber to go to a club.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9
1am Jarrod leaves the Observatory Bar after being in an altercation and allegedly assaulted.
1.15am Rob gets a phone call from Jarrod who seems disorientated and confused. It lasts for three minutes, ending with Jarrod saying he can see an ambulance.
7am Jarrod still hasn’t returned to the hotel, his dad becomes even more worried and phones three Hobart hospitals
10.30am Jarrod’s mum Jill Davies, in Leongatha, phones her husband to check in on the pair. He says: “I’ve lost Jarrod”.
10.45am Mr Davies alerts police his son is missing. They agree to wait until 1pm in case he has spent the night elsewhere.
1pm Mr Davies visits the police station. Police initially think he may be sleeping off a hangover but Mr Davies has a feeling something serious has occurred and his son is in the water. Police list Jarrod as a missing person immediately.
3pm Police visit the family after searching Hobart but have no news about Jarrod’s whereabouts.
8.30pm Mrs Davies arrives in Hobart.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10
10am Mr and Mrs Davies visit the police station. They are told CCTV has captured Jarrod being assaulted.
4pm A mobile phone found in water off the end of the Elizabeth Street Pier is confirmed as Jarrod’s.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11
12.45pm Police divers find Jarrod’s body in water off Elizabeth Street Pier.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14
Police charge a 28-year-old man from Geilston Bay, a Hobart suburb, with one count of common assault.
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