Keilor Downs Constable Jason Mooney went to the home of Adam John Rooney on August 21 last year to confront him over schoolyard bullying that had occured between their two sons.

The pair began to fight and Mooney punched Mr Rooney twice, before punching Mr Rooney’s daughter in the head, the Bendigo Magistrates Court heard yesterday.

Mr Mooney, who lives in Bendigo, told the court he had gone to the house to try to resolve the issue of Mr Rooney’s 12-year-old son bullying his 10-year-old son.

On the day he went to the home, Mr Mooney said Mr Rooney had been the aggressor and punched him in the chin and then attacked him with a plank of wood.

“I punched him twice in the face,” Mr Mooney said. “But he (Mr Rooney) lunged at me with his arms raised in the air and I had no doubt (he was going to hit me).”

Mr Mooney told the court he was acting in self defence when he punched Mr Rooney’s daughter, who had run toward him. He said after the scuffle he attempted to flee but his car would not start.

The court heard Mr Rooney then grabbed a shovel and smashed in Mr Mooney’s car windscreen, while Mr Mooney was in the driver’s seat.

Mr Rooney was charged with criminal damage, unlawful assault, and assault with a weapon. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

At a contested hearing, Mr Mooney gave evidence that he tried to reason with Mr Rooney about the bullying issue before Mr Rooney replied “I’ll sort you out. Don’t come to my place and think you can tell me what to do.” 

According to Mr Rooney’s defence counsel Matthew Cookson, Mr Mooney excluded details on the number of punches, and his version of events was “100 per cent fabrication”. “I put it to you (Mr Mooney) that you stood over him and repeatedly belted him,” he said.

Rooney’s partner Michell Dean told the court that Mr Mooney had verbally abused her son outside the school earlier that day.

She said when she tried to intervene, Mr Mooney told her “I’m f**ing sorting this out”.

Mr Mooney’s involvement in the incident has been subject to investigation by police’s professional standards command, formerly known as the ethical standards department.

The hearing is set to continue today with five more witnesses to give evidence.