Brawl case involving Keilor Downs police officer thrown out of court 

A Bendigo magistrate yesterday dismissed  charges against Adam John Rooney of criminal damage, unlawful assault and assault with a weapon resulting from a fight in Kangaroo Flat with off-duty police constable Jason Mooney on August 21 last year.

Mr Mooney, who lives in Bendigo but works at Keilor Downs police station, was not charged after the fight.

A police media spokesman confirmed last night an internal police review into Mr Mooney’s involvement in the brawl was resolved in October last year, with the constable receiving workplace counselling. 

Magistrate William Gibb said inconsistencies in Mr Mooney’s version of events meant the prosecution case against Mr Rooney could not be proved beyond reasonable doubt.

In a two-day contested hearing the court heard the dispute between the two men resulted from an issue of schoolyard bullying between their sons.

Mr Mooney gave evidence that Mr Rooney attacked him and smashed his car windscreen after failed attempts to talk through his concerns. But the court heard yesterday that Mr Mooney had thrown the first two punches as “warning punches” before punching Mr Rooney’s 16-year-old daughter in the head.

The daughter told the court in her evidence that she saw Mr Mooney kneel over her father and hit him multiple times while he was on the ground. She said he then grabbed her 12-year-old brother in a “choker hold” and dragged him into a gutter and kicked him.

Mr Rooney then responded by grabbing a shovel and smashing in Mr Mooney’s car windscreen, she said.

Magistrate William Gibb said in his ruling he accepted Mr Rooney was acting in self-defence. He said Mr Mooney’s account of what happened could not be relied upon, and left a “great deal to be desired”.

Magistrate Gibb said the weight of evidence from the hearing indicated Mr Mooney was “agitated and angry” on the day he went to Mr Rooney’s house to resolve the bullying issue.

“I accept the concern he had about his son’s welfare,” he said. 

“But he allowed himself to be overcome by anger. He elected to attend Mr Rooney’s residence to, effectively, have it on.”

The court heard that after the incident Mr Mooney’s wife, Deidre Mooney, called 000 and said her husband had just been in a fight and had “assaulted someone”.

Her police statement, read to the court, detailed an admission Mr Mooney made that he threw the first “warning punches”.

Mr Rooney’s defence counsel Matthew Cookson argued there was a clear oversight and “failure from the prosecution” to exclude Mrs Mooney from giving evidence to the court.

He said the investigators had neglected their responsibilities to not let Mrs Mooney be questioned over the incident.

“Particularly in such a sensitive case, when a police officer is involved,” he said.

Magistrate Gibb said there were versions of the event that were “diametrically opposed”.