THE City of Whittlesea has won the dubious title of Victoria’s worst municipality for family violence after a spike in domestic incidents last month.
In one incident a woman allegedly suffered serious injuries, and a man will face court on multiple charges.
Inspector Bob Dykstra said the municipality of Whittlesea had taken over the city of Hume as the state’s worst spot for domestic violence during Christmas. Whittlesea had 231 reports of family violence while Hume had 224.
Whittlesea’s incidents rose 29 per cent from 179 in November.. Mr Dykstra said several factors could be blamed, but the situation would not be tolerated.
“It could be attributed to people being on holidays and families being together for extended periods, leading to conflict and stress, or to the financial strains at Christmas,” he said.
“But it is not acceptable, not to the police and not to any member of the community. We encourage victims to report these incidents to police.”
Of the 231 incidents in December, 62 involved assaults, 32 property damage and 23 breaches of intervention orders, while the majority were verbal arguments, with 19 involving police attendance to repeat offenders.
A woman rang police after a man threatened her with violence. He was intercepted on Donnybrook Road, Yan Yean, by an unmarked Epping highway patrol car on January 13, Mr Dykstra said.
The Glenroy man allegedly blew 0.154 and is expected to be charged over the incident. He will face the County Court over a domestic violence incident in Whittlesea in December.
