A man who blockaded his street with building materials and struck a truck driver with a fence picket has been denied victims of crime compensation for the second time.
Shannon Draper appeared before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal last month to appeal a Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal decision denying his application for more than $5400 in lost earnings.
The Doreen resident considered himself a victim of crime following an altercation he had with a truck driver on August 30, 2011.
Mr Draper told the tribunal he was fed up with trucks using his street as a thoroughfare to cart loads of dirt and building debris to a nearby development, and he decided to take matters into his own hands.
He said trucks dropped debris on the road and left it for residents to clean up. When complaints made to Whittlesea council, VicRoads and the police proved futile, he concocted a plan to teach truck drivers “a lesson”.
A northern suburbs man, who asked not to be named, was the unsuspecting truck driver to cross Mr Draper’s path almost four years ago.
The tribunal heard he was forced to get out of his truck because Mr Draper had placed building debris and timber off-cuts across Sassafras Avenue. The two men confronted each other and engaged in a heated argument before a fight broke out.
During the fight, Mr Draper sustained a broken nose, which later required 14 stitches. He alleged he was dealt a blow from behind.
Meanwhile, he hit the truck driver with a paling fence off-cut, put him in a headlock and tried to rip his ears off, only to let him go once the truck driver promised never to come back.
VCAT senior member Jonathan Smithers said Mr Draper’s actions in seeking to teach the truck driver a lesson were “at the least, very ill advised and provocative”.
“I find that, because of Mr Draper’s provocative conduct and his behaviour and attitude in relation to the incident, he should not receive an award of assistance,” Mr Smithers said.
The truck driver told Star Weekly he had been unable to return to work due to mental health issues since the altercation.
