Manslaughter charges dropped over Sheldon Broderick’s Geelong death

The daughter of a man fatally beaten over a $15 theft in Geelong last year has expressed her devastation at manslaughter charges being withdrawn, dashing her hope for justice.

The family of a troubled Indigenous man fatally beaten with a lump of wood after stealing a charity tin with $15 in loose change is devastated the case will not go to trial.

Artist Sheldon Broderick died after being struck to the head as he left a takeaway shop he had been burgling in the Geelong suburb of Corio last year.

The Office of Public Prosecutions has decided to withdraw manslaughter charges against Jake Mouat, the local man who struck him.

The OPP said this was because it would not have been possible for the Crown to disprove Mr Mouat’s claims the fatal blows were an act of self-defence.

Mr Broderick’s family is dismayed and say a jury should have been allowed to make the call on the events at Ray’s Fish and Chip and Pizza Shop on Corangamite Drive.

The 48-year-old broke into the takeaway on June 20 last year and was stealing a collection tin containing $15 in donations for the Barwon Health Foundation.

He was confronted by Mr Mouat as he left and struck heavily with what was described as a “bat-like” object.

Fish and Chips and Pizza site in Corio where a man was critically injured. Picture: Alan Barber

Fish and Chips and Pizza site in Corio where a man was critically injured. Picture: Alan Barber

Mr Mouat later told a committal hearing that he had acted in self-defence in striking Mr Broderick, who died in the Alfred Hospital three days later.

Mr Broderick’s daughter Schehera said she acknowledged her father was holding a knife he had grabbed from the shop and threatening Mr Mouat as he crawled through a broken glass panel at the bottom of a front door.

But she said he was on the ground and was not a danger to Mr Mouat, who had arrived at the scene moments earlier.

Ms Broderick said she did not believe he could not have left and called police or used the wood to strike the arm holding the knife.

“The amount of damage to dad’s brain was irreversible,” Ms Broderick said.

“The hit fractured the top of his skull and fractured all the way down to his jaw across just under his nose and to the other side of his jaw.”

Mr Mouat later wrote to family, describing what had happened as a “terrible accident”.

Ms Broderick said this was at odds with any claim of self-defence.

Her father had cannabis, ketamine and methamphetamine in his system and Ms Broderick is open about her father’s background, which includes doing prison time and battling substance abuse.

Sheldon Broderick died following an altercation with a "vigilante" when he broke into a fish 'n' chip shop in Corio. Picture: Supplied

“I’m not defending my dad in that way. He was in the wrong but he didn’t deserve to die,” Ms Broderick said.

“They (police) would definitely have caught him and he’d still be alive.

“He was in a desperate state. When people are in a desperate state, they don’t think things through. My dad just wanted to get out.”

Ms Broderick said she believed the matter should have gone to a trial where a jury could determine guilt or otherwise.

“I feel like my dad needs justice. Put yourself in my shoes. No one deserves to die for $15 and in the way he died.”

Ms Broderick said the circumstances of her dad’s death were not in line with the father she knew.

“He is a good person. He knows how to make you feel loved,” she said.

The Herald Sun had been told a “contemporaneous account” given by Mr Mouat was in accord with what he later told police.

His ability or otherwise to retreat would have been a consideration.

An OPP statement said decisions about whether to discontinue a prosecution were never taken lightly.

“After careful consideration of the evidence, and after seeking the views of the victim’s family, a decision was made that the Crown would not have been able to disprove self-defence to the criminal standard of proof — beyond reasonable doubt. Accordingly, there were not reasonable prospects of conviction.”

It was indicated at a committal hearing last year that Mr Mouat would mount the self-defence argument.

“My client has acted in a certain way in response to the irrational behaviour of the man who is now deceased. This lends support to the self-defence argument,” his lawyer Paul Stefanovic told Geelong Magistrates’ Court.

Mr Mouat, in the letter to the Brodericks in the aftermath of the confrontation, offered his condolences and best wishes.

“I cannot say sorry enough about how that Monday morning turned out. I never expected or wanted that too (sic) happen,” he wrote.

I simply wanted him to be caught by the police for the actions he had taken that morning.”

Letter:

To the family and friends of Sheldon,

I am writing this letter sending my condolences and best wishes after the passing of Sheldon.

I cannot say sorry enough about how that Monday turned out.

I never expected or wanted that to ever happen, I simply wanted him to be caught by the police for the actions he had taken that morning.

It is never easy losing a family member or father and I just want to say how sorry I am for your loss.

This is very hard for me to write because it is very hard for me to come to terms with still, and to live with every day.

It was a horrible accident and one which I wish never happened, so I send my deepest condolences to all you guys yet again.

Sorry for your loss,

Jake