A father has appeared in court accused of attacking his teenage son. Photo: Albert McKnight.
A father allegedly hit his 16-year-old son in the back of the head before threatening to slit his throat after a fight began at a Belconnen bus stop.
When people driving past saw the alleged assault and stopped to ask if everything was okay, the father reportedly abused them and demanded they leave, while his son pleaded with them to call police for help.
Court documents show on the night of 17 April the man, who is in his late 30s, and his ex-partner, were driving to pick up his son so they could go to a family birthday party when they started to argue.
This argument ended with the man getting out at a bus stop on Southern Cross Drive in Scullin, where he waited for his ex and his son to come back to pick him up.
When they arrived the man’s son got out of the car and asked for the address to the party.
Police said after this request was met with “some resistance”, the boy allegedly said: “This is not about you, it is about my grandmother, your mother’s birthday party. Get in the car or I’ll smash your face in.”
The man then allegedly lunged at his son and punched him in the jaw, which the boy described to police as being more “shocking” than painful.
But when the boy turned away his father allegedly hit him in the back of the head. He said the pain from his punch was about a six out of 10.
The man’s ex-partner tried to separate the two by stepping between them, telling the man: “Stop, don’t hurt him”.
The man allegedly pushed her into the side of their car and said: “I’m going to punch this c–t in the face”.
As the two allegedly continued to fight they were seen by two drivers going past, who both stopped and asked if everything was alright.
The man yelled at them: “Get the f–k back in your car, get the f–k out of here”. His son asked them to call the police.
When one person, concerned about the situation, got out of their car, the man walked up to them and again demanded they leave, saying “it’s none of your business”.
To deescalate the situation both the son and ex-partner got back into the car so they could keep driving to the party.
The man sat behind his son, but his son kept looking back at him as he was afraid of what would happen if he looked away.
“Turn around or I’ll slit your throat,” his father allegedly said.
He allegedly continued to hit the back of the headrest on his son’s seat, propelling his head forward.
When he allegedly threatened to stab his son in the ear, his son felt something sharp on his ear and, thinking it was a pen, told him to stop threatening to stab him there.
But when his ex-partner looked back she allegedly saw him holding an 18 cm flip pocket knife and both her and the boy became frightened immediately.
During the drive, the man allegedly threatened to cut the throats of both his son and ex-partner. When they stopped the car he took his belongings and went to leave, reportedly leaving them with one more message.
“If you ever disrespect me again, I’ll slit your throat,” he allegedly told them.
The man applied for bail in the ACT Magistrates Court on Monday (19 April), where his lawyer also said he would enter not guilty pleas to two counts of common assault and two counts of making a reckless threat to kill another person.
If found guilty he faces 10 years’ jail.
In the courtroom, the man’s lawyer argued for bail, partly as the defended charges would be subject to a “significant delay” due to the current backlog of cases at the courts.
But Magistrate James Stewart disagreed bail should be granted, refused it and adjourned the case to June.
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