A father turned violent when trying to defend his son against bullies as he is seen in shocking footage choking one young boy and throwing another down a half-pipe.
The worrying scene took place in New South Wales, Australia, on Sunday evening, when a group of 12-year-old boys were playing at Goonellabah skate park in Lismore.
In a statement, police explained they had been told the man’s son, also 12, was at the skate park when the group of boys started to verbally abuse and threaten him.
They reportedly chased the young boy away from the park, and he later returned with the man, believed to be his father. However, the group continued to taunt the boy, and it appears the father snapped with anger.
Warning: Footage shared on Facebook shows the violents events:
*** BREAKING NEWS ***UNKNOWN MAN ATTACKS CHILDREN AT GOONELLABAH SKATEPARK*** Language & Violence Warning ***Do you recognise this man attacking children at the Goonellabah skatepark?
Posted by North Coast Crime on Wednesday, 3 April 2019
The father could be seen sat on a wall of the park before getting up and storming directly over to one member of the group. He grabbed the youngster’s scooter out from under his feet and pushed him backwards, holding him threateningly by the neck.
Someone could be heard shouting ‘fucking leave him alone’, but the dad payed no attention and violently swung the scooter over the 12-year-old’s head and pushed off his hat before turning his attention to another boy.
He held the scooter up and charged towards the child before pushing him backwards off the edge of the half-pipe.
Thankfully both boys appeared to avoid serious injury as they were able to walk around afterwards, but the dad continued on his rampage as he threw the first boy’s scooter metres into the air, then turned to grab another scooter and threw that across the skate park as well.
Children could be heard swearing and screaming in fear at the man continually throughout the outburst.
According to 10daily, the police explained:
The man allegedly assaulted one of the youths and threw his scooter. Officers from Richmond Police District were notified and commenced an investigation.
The footage is truly shocking; even if the group were bullying the young boy, the father should know better than to retaliate with violence. He certainly didn’t set a good example for his son in that situation.
Police are urging anyone with any information about the incident to come forward.
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to [email protected].
Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.