An award-winning newspaper columnist was proper to be terrified when he lashed out together with his foot at a canine that had chased him right into a pharmacy warehouse, a Justice of the Peace has discovered.
Australian Financial Review journalist Aaron Patrick has fought for almost two years to clear his title after being charged with animal cruelty.
Patrick has at all times denied hurting the canine Rosie – described as a Pitbull or Staffordshire Bull Terrier – and was acquitted on Monday at Downing Center Local Court in Sydney.
Police had alleged that Patrick kicked Rosie within the face together with his shin shortly after 6pm on 27 November 2021 in Oxford Street, Darlinghurst.
Patrick was then chased by the canine’s proprietor, Surry Hills tattoo artist Caleb Harrower, and one other man throughout Riley Street to Chemist Warehouse, the place he turned and swung his proper leg at Rosie.
Award-winning newspaper columnist Aaron Patrick (above) was proper to be terrified when he lunged at a canine that had chased him right into a pharmacy warehouse, a Justice of the Peace has discovered
The 52-year-old took the witness stand on Monday to present his model of occasions after Mr Harrower informed police he was in New York and unable to seem in courtroom.
Patrick stated he was consuming a kebab whereas strolling down Oxford Street when he got here throughout Mr Harrower and his associates Yanick George and Ines English.
“As I continued walking, I came across a dog straining on the leash,” he stated. As Patrick walked between Rosie and a wall, he made “loose contact” with the canine.
“A man came up to me and a few other people were standing close to me,” stated Patrick. ‘The man spoke to me. He said words along the lines of ‘Get the fuck away from my dog, you son of a bitch.’
Patrick stated he was surrounded by Mr. Harrower and his group because the canine proprietor took a step nearer.
“I got scared and I thought this man and his dog were about to attack me,” he stated. “Instinctively, I tried to chase the dog away with my right leg. The man tried to hit me.’
Patrick said he had not made contact with Rosie before running across Riley Street with Mr Harrower and Mr George chasing him.
“They grabbed me while I was running and my glasses fell out of my pocket,” he stated. “I ran into a pharmacy just to be safe.”
Patrick has at all times denied hurting the canine Rosie – described as a Pitbull or Staffordshire Bull Terrier – and was acquitted on Monday at Downing Center Local Court in Sydney. Rosie is within the image
Asked by his counsel, Maurice Neil KC, how he felt on the time, Patrick stated “terrified.”
“I was attacked by a man and a dog for no reason,” he stated. “The dog had chased me down the street with the man. I was afraid it would bite me.’
Patrick ran into the Chemist Warehouse where he said that Mr Harrower was trying to block his exit and that Rosie remained ‘menacing’.
“He had come up to me and he had a really angry look on his face,” stated Patrick. “I was afraid he would keep attacking me.”
Patrick kicked Rosie together with his proper leg, however once more stated he wasn’t making contact. “I yelled, ‘Call the police, call the police,’” he said. “Finally I was able to get out of the pharmacy.”
CCTV footage presented to the court did not show Patrick contacting Rosie on any of the police’s three alleged events, however he had informed police he had kicked the animal.
Body-worn CCTV footage of Patrick’s arrest confirmed Patrick telling Senior Constable Mathew Clarkson what occurred to Rosie.
“It was a big dog and I was afraid of what the dog would do to me, so I kicked the dog to try and get it away from me,” he informed the officer.
“But it was in self-defense because I was afraid for my safety.”
Patrick took the witness stand on Monday to present his model of occasions after Rosie’s proprietor Caleb Harrower informed police he was in New York and couldn’t seem in courtroom
Patrick stated that whereas Rosie was on a leash, she was not below the management of Mr Harrower, who he stated had tried to hit him.
“If you’re going to charge me with animal cruelty, I think it’s fair that you charge him with assault,” he informed Senior Constable Clarkson.
Senior Constable Clarkson then informed Patrick ‘I’d most likely attempt to punch you within the face too if you happen to kicked my canine’.
Before being taken into custody, Patrick stated, “I don’t have any guns on me and I don’t do drugs.”
“Are you seriously going to handcuff me for kicking a dog?” Patrick requested Senior Constable Clarkson, who did simply that and took him to Surry Hills Police Station.
On Monday, Patrick confirmed he had by no means been arrested or convicted of a criminal offense earlier than.
Mr. Neil: “Do you present yourself in court as a man of good character and honesty?”
Patrick: “I do.”
Under cross-examination by Police District Attorney Sergeant Jas Poonia, Patrick denied ever kicking Rosie, who the courtroom heard was not injured throughout their encounters.
Patrick additionally rejected Sergeant Poonia’s suggestion that he informed Mr Harrower, “I’ll do it again” after first making “casual contact” with Rosie.
He wasn’t fairly certain at what level he began to worry Rosie and at one level informed the courtroom, ‘I don’t know what was occurring within the canine’s thoughts’.
Australian Financial Review journalist Aaron Patrick feared for his security when he lashed out at a canine at this Chemist Warehouse in downtown Darlinghurst together with his leg
During his interrogation, Patrick stated a number of occasions “I’m not going to answer yes or know” and “I don’t agree with the proposal you’re making me.”
In his closing remarks, Mr Neil stated his shopper ‘mind his own business … eating his early dinner’ when the ‘totally unexpected events happened’.
“It’s quite a terrifying scene of two men chasing another man,” Mr Neil stated. “One that at least complained to him and the dog that looked at Mr. Patrick.”
‘He’s scared, confused. The scenario took him fully without warning. He was terrified.’
Mr Neil stated police had didn’t display that Patrick’s actions had been unreasonable, pointless or unjustifiable in what he referred to as ‘this sad saga’.
“What would explain why he deliberately went out of his way to attack a dog in the street for no reason?” he requested.
Magistrate Rana Daher accepted Patrick’s model of occasions by dismissing the costs.
“It is clear from the CCTV footage that the suspect was frightened,” she stated. “He was being chased by two men, one of them with a dog.”
Patrick is billed because the ‘senior correspondent’ for the AFR, writing about politics and enterprise from the paper’s newsroom in Sydney.
He beforehand wrote for The New York Times, The Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, having begun his journalism profession at Melbourne’s Herald-Sun.
Patrick not solely wrote for the Nine newspaper, but additionally wrote the e book ‘Ego: Malcolm Turnbull and the Liberal Party’s Civil War’ which got here out final 12 months.
He has additionally revealed works on the earlier Morison authorities, the demise of the Labor Party after the Rudd-Gillard period and the unraveling of Tony Abbott’s authorities.