MOURNERS were left using tables and chairs as shields as an axe-wielding man launched a “terrifying” attack at a wake in Girgarre in the early hours of Sunday.
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Girgarre man Beau Gemmill, 29, was arrested at the scene and pleaded guilty in the Bendigo Magistrates’ Court on Monday to eight charges including recklessly causing injury and making threats to kill.
The court heard Gemmill was drinking with seven other men in a backyard on Station Street as part of a “wake” for a deceased friend.
Gemmill confronted another man in front of the house at 2am, accusing him of sleeping with his girlfriend.
He punched the man to the side of the head before he was subdued by other men and taken home.
Gemmill returned soon after armed with a wooden axe, and scaled the back fence into the backyard.
Gemmill shouted “I’m going to kill all you mother f-----s” before brandishing the axe over his head and swinging wildly at people.
One man told police he was “terrified he was going to cop an axe to the back of the head”.
Another used a wooden table to protect himself, which Gemmill struck with the axe. He also smashed a glass table as people ran for cover.
One man came at him with a shovel, which Gemmill defended with the axe.
A chair was thrown at Gemmill and he was wrestled to the ground, damaging a fence in the process.
Kyabram and Echuca police arrived at 2.55am to find Gemmill acting “highly agitated and violent”. He refused to comment to police.
Gemmill was the only person injured after he was struck with a shovel.
The court heard Gemmill rarely drank alcohol, but had consumed a “significant amount” of Bourbon during the evening and his recollection of the incident was “patchy”.
He has since “reflected on his foolishness” during his time in the police cells.
Gemmill was convicted and placed on a two-year community corrections order with 200 hours of unpaid community work.