THE festival director of the Bendigo Blues and Roots Festival has been charged with unlawful assault for allegedly trying to slap a man in a Bendigo live music venue before placing him in a headlock.
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Colin Thompson was charged in relation to an incident at the Golden Vine Hotel on July 19 when he allegedly assaulted a man who was preparing audio equipment for a live show.
CCTV footage, obtained by the Bendigo Advertiser, shows Mr Thompson appearing to swing his arm at the victim before chasing him to the bar where he placed the victim in a headlock.
Other patrons were required to remove Mr Thompson from the area.
Children were present when the alleged assault occurred.
The prosecution has referred the charge for a diversion order.
Mr Thompson will appear in the Bendigo Magistrates’ Court on December 19.
The victim also applied for a personal safety intervention order against Mr Thompson, that was granted by the magistrates’ court on August 24.
In the application, the victim claims Mr Thompson was unhappy with a Facebook post he made which was critical of a speech Mr Thompson made at a funeral, describing it as “the words of a narcissist”.
Mr Thompson attended the Golden Vine – where the victim works – and spoke to him on the stage for just over two minutes before allegedly attempting to attack him.
The victim asserts it was inappropriate conduct for a person holding a high position in the Bendigo community.
As a result of the alleged attack, the victim questioned whether Mr Thompson was “the appropriate person going forward to act in” the role of festival director.
“(I am) unaware of the corporate structure of the festival or how the director is chosen,” he said.
“This incident raises serious questions about Mr Thompson being the ‘face’of the festival and his ability to deal with any perceived criticism of his role.
“The assault occurred in consequence of Mr Thompson feeling that he had been criticised in connection with his promotion of the festival and constituted an inappropriate response to perceived criticism.”
Mr Thompson said he had apologised to everyone in the room that he was aware of, apart from the victim.
He said he “experienced a moment of weakness” and “lashed out” at the victim with an “open hand”.
“I’ve apologised to everyone I’ve known to have been there since as well. The only person I haven’t apologised to was (the victim) because I didn’t see the point in trying to engage with him since doing so on the 19th had not resulted in anything positive,” Mr Thompson said.
“I couldn’t see it resulting in anything positive moving forward.”
He said he did not believe he was a “violent perpetrator”.
“I don’t commit violence, I don’t recommend it, I don’t advocate it, I haven’t punched someone since high school and that was because that guy was roughing up my little sister,” Mr Thompson said.
“To paint a picture of me as a violent perpetrator or someone who goes around intimidating people or threatening people or hurting people is just really unnecessary and really hurtful.”
Mr Thompson founded the Bendigo Blues and Roots Festival in 2011 when more than 100 individual gigs were held across the city.
He became the festival director soon after, booking upwards of 150 music acts for the following years’ festivals, including 2018.
