Cranbourne South father Trevor Davies says he was violently assaulted in front of his kids Amy, Nathan and Matt at the Cranbourne Races on Father’s Day.By Alison Noonan
A BROKEN jaw has left a Cranbourne South dad with memories of a Father’s Day he would rather forget.
Trevor Davies claims he was brutally assaulted, taunted and threatened in front of his three young children as he enjoyed a family day at the Cranbourne races on Sunday.
The single father said his sixyearold daughter and 10 and 13yearold sons watched in horror as he was punched to the head several times by a group of race spectators on the trackside grass area.
“We were sitting on a blanket on the grass watching the secondlast race when a heap of iceblocks came flying in our direction,” Mr Davies said.
“This continued for some time until one hit my son.
“I politely asked the group if they could throw the ice in the other direction and one of the men just freaked out.”
Mr Davies said he copped three forceful blows to the head while verbal abuse was hurled at his kids.
“My daughter was absolutely beside herself,” he said.
“They (the children) just stood back in shock.
“I had cuts to my upper and lower lip and was bleeding.
“Meanwhile, the group was still making threats to kill and threatening my kids.
“It was just disgusting.”
Mr Davies said he waited for more than half an hour for police to arrive as there was no security or police present on course.
“There weren’t as many people around because it was close to the end of the day,” he said.
“I went to the track’s security office and the racecourse manager said he would take down the group’s car registration plates when they left, but he only got a brief description of the car.
“The police officer said he only has one witness, so I am calling for anyone who may have seen the attack to come forward.
“I want to let people know what a coward this man is.”
Mr Davies said he was scheduled to see a surgeon to determine whether he would require a metal plate to be inserted into his jaw.
“The kids had asked me what I wanted to do for Father’s Day and I said I would like nothing more than to go to the races,” he said.
“It was supposed to be a family day where I could go with my children and have a nice day.
“Instead my Father’s Day present was a broken jaw.
“I won’t be going to the races on my own again.”
Cranbourne Turf Club chief executive Yvonne Blackwood said it was not deemed necessary for security personnel to be employed at regular race meetings but assured racegoers that future course security would be reviewed following Sunday’s incident.
“I am not sure what led to the incident but we did not expect to have security issues at a family day,” she said.
“We do have security for special meetings and big race days but we will look at the security situation for regular race meetings.”
Cranbourne Police are investigating the incident.
