Christmas Criminals revealed: Drink drivers and brawlers of Geelong
Who are the Geelong locals who have appeared before the courts for offences committed during the Christmas holiday period?
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Police will clamp down on anti-social behaviour and dangerous driving over the festive period, as new data shows a worrying rise in young drivers caught behind the wheel with drugs or alcohol in their system.
In past years a number of people have fronted Geelong Magistrates Court for offences committed over the festive period.
At 5am on New Year’s Day in 2021, Marley Mathews was arrested after he was spotted trying to climb Geelong’s floating Christmas Tree.
On Christmas Eve last year, Brooklyn Marchant crashed into a parked station wagon while smelling of alcohol.
Geelong Highway Patrol’s Sergeant David Brockway said police had detected 215 drug affected and 207 alcohol affected drivers across the region since the start of 2023.
Sergeant Brockway said while drink driving offences were down by 12 per cent on the year prior, police had seen a 23 per cent increase in the number of P-platers caught driving with alcohol in their system.
The number of P-plater drug drivers charged had also increased by 8 per cent, he said.
Sergeant Brockway said a driver’s reaction and impairment time were much slower when they were affected by drugs or alcohol.
“They have an increased likelihood of them being involved in a serious injury collision. It impacts everybody.
“People don’t get it, they don’t slow down. Remember, don’t drink and drive, the holiday destinations will be there.
“We always have a surge in fatalities (over the festive period) – purely for the fact that people are impatient and make silly decisions and results in people, and nine times out of the innocent people, being involved in fatal crashes,” he said.
Geelong Local Area Commander Sergeant Peter Nichols said revellers should expect a heightened police presence across the Geelong CBD over the festive period, with police working with venues to stamp out anti-social behaviour.
“Police will be working closely with local traders including restaurants, pubs and nightclubs, to enforce local laws regarding the consumption and possession of alcohol in public areas,” Sergeant Nichols said.
“We ask that no matter where or how you choose to celebrate, respect the safety of those around you and respect the local community.”
In the past years, a number of people have appeared before the courts for offences committed during the holidays season.
Who has appeared before the courts for offences during the Christmas period?
Brooklyn Marchant
Marchant crashed into a parked station wagon on Christmas Eve and smelled of “intoxicating liquor” and refused to take part in an alcohol reading, the Geelong Magistrates Court heard.
Police prosecutor Senior Constable David Vanderpol said that on December 24, 2022, Marchant was driving in Gheringhap St and crashed into a parked station wagon about 7.40pm.
Marchant did not stop and drove away from the scene, but was eventually found by police.
“She was then taken back to the police station to undertake a breath test, and the accused refused. She was asked to hand over the keys to the vehicle and she refused,” Mr Vanderpol said.
Marley Mathews
The court heard Mathews had a “raging drug addiction” and tried to climb Geelong’s floating Christmas tree to get his new year started.
The court heard a member of the public called triple-0 about 5am on January 1, 2021 to report a person in Corio Bay attempting to climb the barge carrying the floating Christmas tree.
When police arrived at the waterfront they found Mathews climbing a nearby ferry.
Jordy Warren
Warren lunged at her neighbour with a kitchen knife and called him a “pedo” during an alcohol fuelled rant on Christmas Eve in 2021.
Police prosecutor Senior Constable James French said the victim went outside to investigate the commotion and recognised Warren who was in an agitated state.
Constable French said an argument then took place between the two neighbours during which Warren accused the victim of being a “pedo”.
A few moments later, Warren went back inside her home.
When Warren went back outside she was armed with a kitchen knife and approached the victim and lunged at him, however, no contact was made.
Baljinder Singh
Singh was sentenced to a 10-month prison term over a Christmas Eve crash at Birregurra.
A mother and her 12-year-old daughter were hit by Singh’s vehicle careered into their car at the intersection of Colac-Lorne Road and Birregurra-Forrest Road on December 24, 2017.
The court heard Singh failed to take notice of rumble strips and signs warning drivers to slow down as they approached the intersection.
Matthew Giles, Todd Broughton and Deni Nadjovski
The trio, a group of boilermakers at the time of the offence, were ordered to pay $12,000 in fines as a result of a violent brawl at a boozy Christmas party.
The court heard the trio, who had never been in trouble with the law before, had been celebrating the end of a hard year by drinking dozens of beers and partying at a number of CBD venues on December 21 in 2017.
Lawyers for the men said their clients couldn’t remember the night, with Broughton admitting to drinking about 30 beers.
Magistrate John Lesser described the offending as “appalling” and said: “You all ought to be ashamed of yourselves and hang your heads.”
Briana Dougherty
Dougherty spat on a security guard after being refused entry at a Geelong venue on Boxing Day in 2019.
The court heard she spat on a security guard before kicking a glass door, causing it to break.
Dougherty became volatile as police tried arresting her and the court heard she repeatedly kicked two officers in the lower leg.
Natasha Villinger
Villinger was walking along Solar Dr in Whittington with a 1.2m metal star picket on New Year’s Eve in 2019.
When she was questioned by police, she threw the picket at one of the officers who received lacerations on his arm.
Villinger’s lawyer, Tom Edwards, told the court his client had been drinking and had “no recollection” of having the star-picket.
Dylan Moyle
Moyle, referring to himself as a lone wolf threatened to carry out a mass shooting at Eastern Beach on New Year’s Eve in 2017.
He faced the Geelong Magistrates’ Court on a common law count of public nuisance after posting the message to his 3000 Facebook friends about 6pm on December 31.
The messages read: “Going to do a mass shooting at Eastern Beach tonight. If you read this you where (sic) warned #lonewolf,”.
Defence lawyer Simon Northeast confirmed the man, 19 at the time, thought people would realise he was “joking”.
satria.dyer-darmawan@news.com.au
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