Thursday, February 12, 2015

IN LOVING MEMORY OF 11-YEAR-OLD LUKE BATTY (20 JUNE 2002 TO 12 FEBRUARY 2014)



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.


Luke Batty. Source: News Corp Australia

Father who killed son, Luke Batty, at cricket ground had history of mental illness, says boy's anguished mother
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 13 Feb 2014, 10:07am

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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