On this
date, 12 February 2014, 11-year old Grade 6 school boy Luke Batty was bashed
with a cricket bat and was stabbed multiple times at his local cricket practice
in Tyabb on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria was murdered by his father
Greg Anderson, who was later shot dead by Victoria Police. Anderson apparently
committed the crime as retribution against ex-wife Rosie Batty. The crime
attracted both national and world-wide attention.
We, the
comrades of Unit 1012: The VFFDP, will make him one of The
82 murdered children of Unit 1012, where we will not forget him every year
on February 12 and June 20. Let us remember how he lived and not how he died.
We will always support his mother, Rosie Batty and his loved ones. Every year
on June 20, we will remember how he lived on this earth as it is our policy to
also remember the victim on his or her birthday.
We will
also endorse The Luke Batty Foundation.
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Luke Batty. Source: News Corp Australia
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INTERNET
SOURCE: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-13/mother-in-shock-after-son-killed-by-father-at-cricket-oval/5258252
Father who killed son, Luke Batty, at cricket ground had history of
mental illness, says boy's anguished mother
By Monique
Ross
Updated 13
Feb 2014, 10:34pm
The mother
of an 11-year-old boy killed by his father at a cricket ground in Victoria has
spoken of her shock, and revealed her estranged partner had a history of mental
illness and was the subject of an apprehended violence order (AVO).
Luke Batty
was killed in front of horrified onlookers after a cricket training session at
the oval in the small town of Tyabb, south-east of Melbourne, on Wednesday
evening.
His
54-year-old father Greg was shot by police at the scene and died in hospital early on Thursday morning.
Luke's
mother Rosie Batty was at the cricket ground when the tragedy unfolded, after
her son asked for "a few more minutes" with his father.
This
afternoon she described her "shock" and "disbelief" and
told reporters her estranged partner Greg was a man who loved his son but had
suffered from an undiagnosed mental illness for two decades.
"Luke was nearly as tall as me. He was sensitive. He enjoyed his
footy, he enjoyed his cricket," she said.
Luke was nearly as tall as me. He was effervescent, he was funny. He wasn't the best scholar but he was intelligent.- Rosie Batty
"He was effervescent, he was funny. He wasn't the best scholar but
he was intelligent. He enjoyed his school."
She says Luke loved his father and
"felt pain" because he knew he was struggling.
"He was a little boy in a growing
body that felt pain and sadness and fear for his mum, and he always believed he
would be safe with his dad," she said.
"[I told him] 'you'll always love
your dad. You won't always like what they do or say, but you'll always love
your dad, and he'll always love you'."
Father had
long history of mental illness
Ms Batty says she had known Greg for
20 years, and over that time his mental health deteriorated.
"[He went] from someone who
brushed off losing a job to someone that was unemployable," she said.
"He was in a homelessness
situation for many years. His life was failing. Everything was becoming worse
in his life and Luke was the only bright light in his life."
She says Greg had been offered help, but he failed
to accept it, instead choosing to "believe he was OK".
She had an AVO against Greg, but says he loved Luke
and there were no signs he would ever hurt their son.
"You're dealing with someone who's always had
problems, and they start out small and over the years they get bigger, but he's
still the father," she said.
"He loved his son. Everyone that's involved
with children would know that whatever action they take is not because they
don't love them.
No-one loved Luke more than Greg, his father. No-one loved Luke more than me. We both loved him.- Rosie Batty
"No-one
loved Luke more than Greg, his father. No-one loved Luke more than me. We both
loved him."
She says
people thought she was the one at risk, and some had urged her to return to her
home country.
"Doctors,
psychologists, everyone said to me, why don't you go back to England and live
there? But Luke wanted to be here," she said.
"His
school was here, his friends were here. And I had decided that was the right
choice."
'Family
violence happens to everybody'
Ms Batty
says if there is a silver lining to be found in the tragedy, it will be
increased awareness about the issue of family violence.
"I
want to tell people that family violence happens to [anybody], no matter how
nice your house is, no matter how intelligent you are," she said.
"When
you're involved with family violence, friends, family judge you, the woman. The
decisions you should make, the decisions you don't make.
I want to tell people that family violence happens to [anybody], no matter how nice your house is, no matter how intelligent you are.- Rosie Batty
"You're
the victim, but you become the person that people condemn.
"The people here reading this
will say 'why didn't she protect him, why didn't she make certain decisions'.
"But when you actually finally
decide enough is enough, and decide to go through a court process, you do not
know what the outcome will be.
'What I want people to take from this
is that it isn't simple. People judge you, people tell you what you should do.
You do the best you can."
She says she does not regret allowing
Greg to have a relationship with his son despite the problems, as her
"guiding star" was ensuring Luke knew he was loved by both of his
parents.
Mother first
thought it was an accident
Ms Batty says her son died after what
was "just a normal cricket practice".
"Most of the kids and parents had
gone. Luke came to me and said, 'could I have a few more minutes with my dad'
because he doesn't see him very often and I said, 'sure, OK'," she said.
She says when she realised something
was wrong, she thought an accident had happened and tried to call an ambulance.
"I tried to ring but couldn't
ring because I was too stressed. I looked for help and I ran towards help,
screaming 'get an ambulance, this is really bad'," she said.
"I thought Greg had accidentally
hurt him from a bowling accident ... and that Greg's anguish was because he had
hurt Luke accidentally.
"I was screaming, I was
inconsolable."
Paramedics called to the sports ground
on Frankston-Flinders Road treated the boy but were unable to revive him.
Police are refusing to give more
details of the incident, but some witnesses say a cricket bat was used.
Ms Batty says it was only later that
she realised that what happened to Luke was not an accident.
"What I saw that I thought was
Greg comforting Luke and helping him with what I thought was an accident,
wasn't necessarily what I saw," she said.
"The full extent of what happened
I don't want anyone, other than the [coroner], to know.
"Luke was killed by his father.
No-one else including myself needs to know the details of what he actually
did."
'Police acted
the way they needed to act'
Homicide detectives have spoken to
several children who saw Luke die and then watched as police then shot his
father.
Officers say they shot the man in the
chest after he threatened them with a knife. Police say they tried to subdue
him with capsicum spray but that did not work.
Greg, from Chelsea Heights, was flown
to Melbourne's Alfred Hospital, where he died about 1:30am.
Ms Batty says police did not do anything
wrong.
"The police acted the
way they needed to act. In the past Greg has been confrontational and
difficult,"
she said.
"The police had no
other option."
She says Greg had not violated terms
of the AVO by attending the event.
"It was allowed from the
intervention order. It was a public place, I believed he was safe," she
said.
"It was just a little cricket
practice. There was people there, I believed he was safe."
Ms Batty says she is grateful for the
support of loved ones, and will soon be joined by family who are travelling to
Australia from England.
Hundreds of people attended a
candle-lit vigil on Thursday night at the sports ground where Luke died.
And the Australian cricket team wore
black armbands in its Test match against South Africa as a sign of respect for
Luke.
Tyabb
shooting: Man who killed son Luke Batty at Victorian cricket ground dies in
hospital after being shot by police
Updated
A man who
killed his 11-year-old son at a cricket ground in a small Victorian town
yesterday has died in hospital after he was shot by police at the scene.
Luke Batty was killed in front of
horrified onlookers after a cricket training session at the oval in Tyabb,
south-east of Melbourne, on Wednesday evening.
His 54-year-old father, who witnesses
say used a cricket bat to beat the boy to death, was shot by police at the
scene and died in hospital early this morning.
Locals say the small town is in shock
and the principal of Luke's school says students are grieving.
Police are refusing to give more
details of the incident but say they are not looking for anyone else in
connection with the boy's death.
Police
question young witnesses who saw horror unfold
Homicide detectives have spoken to
several children who saw Luke die and then watched as police then shot his
father, who has not been named.
Officers say they shot the man in the
chest after he threatened them with a knife. Police say they tried to subdue
him with capsicum spray but that did not work.
The father, from Chelsea Heights, was
flown to Melbourne's Alfred Hospital, where he died about 1:30am.
Luke was found dead in the park with
significant head injuries.
Paramedics called to the sports ground
on Frankston-Flinders Road treated the boy but were unable to revive him.
Police Commander Doug Fryer would not
say how Luke was killed, but some witnesses say a cricket bat was used.
"I confirm that the male shot by
police is father of the child who is deceased and we're not looking for anyone
else," he said.
"I can say the injuries are
significant, clearly they caused his death, quite brutal, but I can't go into
exactly what they were."
He said Luke's mother, who was
estranged from the father, was also at the ground.
"[She was] certainly in close
proximity to what happened," he said.
"The death of a young child is
always going to be horrific. The reality is I don't know how the mother is
going to cope with this.
"I can't go into the specifics
and what culminated to cause the death of the young man or even the events
leading up to the shooting of the father. I can say the homicide squad are
here, taking primacy of the investigation."
Police say local junior cricket and
football had just finished at the park when the incident occurred.
School deals
with devastating loss on day of grief for students
Luke was a year six student at
Flinders Christian Community College, a multi-campus school.
The school's executive principal, Jill
Healey, says the community is devastated.
"It's just devastating. The loss
of any child is always devastating. So there's great grief around the campus
today. Yes open grief. It's really tough," she said
"Because we did learn about it
overnight, we did have a period of time to put into place support for our
school," she said.
"Parents are coming together,
they are sharing with one another. there's a lot of tears. It's good to see the
way our community draws together at times of real tragedy."
One of Luke’s teachers, Max Cudden,
says it was hard speaking to the grade six students this morning.
"We brought them all together
because they all knew him," he said.
"To be able to share the news, it
was quite challenging to hear the children expressing their grief just in so
many ways. But it was lovely to see the support they had for each other.
"We're a tight community and that
was evident this morning. He was a sporty kid, Luke loved his sport. Luke was
well connected with his classmates.
"He loved life and he used to
throw himself into anything that came his way. This is very hard, very hard.
It's hard for all of us."
Luke
remembered as a friendly, popular boy
Local resident Jim Brennan of Hastings
has expressed his shock about the incident.
"I've lived here for over 37
years. It's unbelievable this would happen in a quiet little town like
Tyabb," he said.
"To see young boys training and
playing cricket and this happened, it's just hard to comprehend. It's beyond
words for me.
"The whole community will feel it
because places like this, Tyabb and Hastings, are small towns and everybody
knows everybody. It's just a shock to the whole system."
Trent, 15, has told Fairfax Luke was a
friendly and popular boy.
"He was a good kid. Met him once
or twice," he said.
"Sad that it's happened. He
didn't deserve it. It's just the actions of someone else.
"I hope we do a game for him this
year. Just sad to see him go."
Scouts Australia says it is
"shocked and saddened to learn of the death of one of our young
members".
"Our thoughts are with his family
and friends. We are providing support to the Scout Group where Luke was a
member."
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