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Thursday, 21 April, 2016 Page 3
berwicknews.starcommunity.com.au
Home intruder passes out By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS A MAN found with synthetic cannabis broke down a Berwick resident’s gate and passed out on her couch as she sought help from neighbours. Jarrod Hewitson had flattened the gate, perhaps in an attempt to jump over it, about 5.30pm on 28 February, Dandenong Magistrates’ Court was told. The frightened victim ran for help when she spotted an apparently “drug affected” Hewitson walking towards her garage door. The accused was found by police
on a couch inside the house with his hands on his head. There was a sealed packet of synthetic cannabis and a smoking pipe in his pocket, police informant Senior Constable James Middleton told the court. Hewitson, who was on a community corrections order, told police at the time he had bought the substance from a shop. The accused was also charged with resisting arrest while awaiting a police interview at Narre Warren police station that night.
Sen Const Middleton said the interview couldn’t be completed due to Hewitson’s aggressive manner. He said the accused had offended multiple times in the past usually while in possession of an illicit drug. His lawyer told the court on 19 April there was no evidence that the accused smoked the substance. Hewitson claimed that he must have been suffering the after-effects of an epileptic seizure. The lawyer said the accused often couldn’t remember anything from the seizure but had reportedly behaved
less than a month before the incident. The judge said Hewitson, who had spent 50 days in pre-sentence detention, had been detained for “more than enough” on an unlawful entry charge. The accused’s aggravated burglary charge had been dropped because the victim had left before he entered her home. Hewitson was sentenced to 30 days’ jail - which had already been served. His corrections order’s conditions were varied from unpaid community work to drug treatment and rehabilitation only.
similarly during past episodes. Magistrate Jack Vandersteen noted there was no evidence of Hewitson having a seizure that day. “This is merely speculative. I get the point that he was confused but his behaviour goes for hours not 30 or 40 seconds. “(The behaviour) is also consistent with someone affected by drugs and he’s found with drug paraphernalia on him.” Mr Vandersteen said Hewitson had not had another such seizure in the past two years, and had only been out of jail
Reform forum to tackle social media issues NATIONAL Youth Week has prompted discussion around the social media challenges faced by young people, and some of Casey’s teenage leaders got talking with Anthony Byrne MP. The annual national week runs from Friday 8 April to Sunday 17 and provides activities for people aged 12 to 25. Federal Member for Holt Anthony Byrne MP met with the City of Casey Australia Day Study Tour students as part of the celebrations. Mr Holt said he engaged in a brilliant conversation with the bright youths. “Young people are confronting many challenges in the social media age,” Mr Byrne said. “It was great to hear from them about their concerns and their ideas
such as more peer to peer youth services for schools.” In 2015, more than 20,000 young people from across Victoria participated in youth week festivities, and this year’s conversation in Casey has already wielded results. Mr Byrne has decided to organise a social media forum with local students. “This forum will discuss the ongoing challenges and ideas for reform to better protect young people online when dealing with social media services,” Mr Byrne said. The forum will be the first of its kind in Casey, aimed directly at youth and for youth. - GEORGIA WESTGARTH
Local school leaders Pooja, Josh, Anagha, Zoya, Abdul with Anthony Byrne MP and Zachary, Shakila, Gul Picture: ROB CAREW Dasta and Georgia discussing plans for an upcoming social media forum. 152932
Raes pay respects
George Rae and others at Royal Park Army Camp, Melbourne, prior to leaving for WWI. Picture: Max Thomson Collection, Narre Warren and District Family History Group
CHEAPEST FLOORING/DECKING
From page 1 There were going-away presents for the men and women who left for battle, and a ‘welcome home’ event at the local hall at war’s end. Jack was on the brink of turning 18 and being eligible to be sent to the battlefront when World War II ended. His father George returned to service as a Lieutenant of Berwick volunteer defence corp - a mix of veterans and younger men recruited to defend the home front if there was an invasion. Jack says there was a feeling of that threat being real after Japanese aerial bombings in Darwin and a foreign submarine probing Sydney Harbour. He remembers black screens being placed over home windows at night, and car’s headlights dimmed by covers - even out in the district’s farmsteads and dirt roads. “We weren’t this little island in the Never Never anymore because the war landed on our shores.”
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East of the memorial still stands the Raes’ late greatgrandmother Annie Troup’s original dairy homestead. North along Memorial Drive stand oak trees marking the 18 men - a football team - who left for World War 1. Unfortunately, the name plaques for those trees planted just after the war have long gone, Thelma laments. “I come here quite often,” she says of the memorial. “I think of how hard it must have been for those soldiers. We’ll never know how hard it was.” Until recent times, the memorial site had been neglected. Jack recalls his late mate Bob Street - whose family name also adorns the cenotaph among the World War II veterans - organising a working bee to clean it up. During that clean up, the top marble slab cracked and fell to the ground - fortunately missing the helpers. The slab now takes pride of place at this tidy memorial - a vista that still harkens to the area’s rural roots.
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