A British has revealed the horror of watching her ex-partner stab and
beat their 11-year-old son to death with a cricket bat at sports
practice in Australia.
Police shot Luke Batt’s father Greg in an attempt to halt the
frenzied attack, but the young boy was pronounced dead at the scene and
his father died later in hospital.
Horrified parents and children who were gathered at the ground for
evening cricket training watched the Greg attack his son with a knife
and cricket bat on Wednesday evening at Tyabb Cricket Ground, in
Victoria.
Describing the moments leading up to her son’s death she said ‘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.’
‘It was just a little cricket practice, there were people there, I believed he was safe,’ said Mrs Batty, 52.
‘I looked for help, and I ran towards help and screaming, ‘Get an
ambulance, get an ambulance, this is bad, this is really, really bad,’
she said.
‘From what I could see, Luke had been injured. I thought it was an accident, I had no reason to think otherwise.’
‘What triggered this was a case of his dad having mental health issues,’ she told the Herald Sun.
‘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.
‘No one loved Luke more than his father. No one loved Luke more than me — we both loved him.’
Recounting the horrific incident, she added: ‘It was just a normal
cricket practice and most of the kids and their 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 yes, sure, that’s OK.
‘There’s no reason for me to be concerned, there was no reason to be
concerned, I thought it was in an open environment – that’s something I
have to understand.’
Ms Batty, who is originally from Lincoln in England said that police
told her it was a calculated act that would have occurred at some point.
The horrific attack unfolded at around 6.30pm in an outer suburb of
Melbourne on the picturesque Mornington Peninsula in Victoria.
Tyabb is a quiet township with a country fire station, a railway
station and three small primary schools including Flinders Christian
Community College, where the boy was a sixth grade pupil.
Witnesses told the Herald Sun the father turned on them with the knife, forcing one of the officers to shoot him in the chest.
Local police from Mornington station arrived on the scene at 6.40pm,
when four officers confronted the man and tried unsuccessfully to subdue
him with capsicum spray.
As the news was broadcast, horrified Australians have begun posting tributes to the boy on social media.
Paramedics tried to save the boy, but he died at the scene from severe head injuries.
An emergency services helicopter took the father to the Alfred hospital, where the man died at around 1.30am on Thursday.
Victoria Police commander Doug Fryer confirmed the ‘male that the police shot was the father of the deceased boy’.
They’ve attempted to use less than lethal force, ‘ Commander Fryer
said. ‘They’ve attempted to talk him down. That has been unsuccessful.
‘They have then discharged a firearm, hitting that male once in the chest.
‘We’ve had an absolute tragedy here tonight. It’s a horrific scene.’
Police later interviewed witnesses, including young children.
The incident has shocked the local community, with one resident
describing how ‘a shiver’ ran down his spine when he heard ‘a couple of
pops’ and realised they were gunshots.
Tyabb Cricket Club’s junior cricket co-ordinator, Ron Dyall, said the
boy had played for the club for two or three years and was also an avid
footballer.
Mr Dyall said he was devastated by what had happened.
‘My own son plays in [the boy's] team. I’m trying to figure out how to break it to him, and how we’re gonna deal with the kids.’
The Victorian Homicide Squad will conduct an investigation into the deaths.
