A Middle Eastern man who attacked his 16-year-old sister after seeing her out in public with her boyfriend has attempted to pass off his aggressive behaviour as that of a “protective brother”.
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The married father-of-three, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was driving along Burelli Street in Wollongong on January 17 when he saw his sister and her boyfriend on the footpath.
He got out of his car and confronted the pair, pushing his sister’s boyfriend in the chest.
When the sister tried to intervene, her brother pushed her aggressively before throwing her onto the concrete footpath, causing her belongings to scatter across the roadway.
CCTV footage of the incident shows the man then try to grab his sister and pull her into his vehicle. She eventually gives in and gets into the car voluntarily and the siblings drive off.
Now it may be he had no intention to hurt his sister at all but in his blind rage about seeing his sister on the street with a boy, that’s what happened.
Witnesses reported the incident to police, who tracked the vehicle to an address in Wollongong.
When they spoke to the brother, he admitted he’d had an argument with his sister but denied assaulting her.
Officers discovered the teen crying in her bedroom. She confirmed she had been assaulted but refused to provide a formal statement.
The man was charged with common assault to which he pleaded guilty in court this week.
Defence lawyer Nixon Hanna said his client was a “family-orientated” man who had been the only male in the household up until the age of 20 and had always looked after his sisters.
”He understands the mistake he made, it wasn’t the manner to go about things, he was just being a protective brother,” Mr Hanna said.
“The court can be reassured this type of offence won’t happen again.”
Magistrate Roger Clisdell said it was obvious the man’s cultural background had influenced his behaviour, but that was no excuse for what he’d done.
“What is unsaid here is clearly this is something that arises as a result of a cultural aspect of his background, where young girls are not permitted to be with young men unless they’re chaperoned,” he said.
“On this occasion the sister was with her boyfriend. The facts make it clear their relationship….was not intimate.
“Unfortunately (the man) put two and two together and came up with five...because he thought there was something improper about what his sister was doing.
“Now it may be he had no intention to hurt his sister at all but in his blind rage about seeing his sister on the street with a boy, that’s what happened.”
He recorded a conviction against the man and placed him on a 12-month community corrections order.
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