Very Angry and frustrated!!

[Christopha]

My 21year old son John rang me last night, he was on his way into his young ladys' place in Melbourne on the train and gave his old man a ring. We talked for 10 minutes or so and were just finishing our conversation when I heard a male voice in the background. I asked Johnny if the fellow was talking to him and he said he didn't think so.... we rang off... The piece of schidt then demanded my sons' telephone and when told "No", he proceeded to bash the bejesus out of my son! The only passengers near at the time were all young women and obviously they couldn't intervene but were very good to him after, helping with descriptions and waiting with John till his girlfriend could get there. The driver of the train got out of his cabin, saw what was happening and dived back into his cab and ignored the whole deal..... Johnny went to the police who were very good with him and they think they will probably catch the bastard as they have access to video security footage. They sent him to Connex where he was asked to fill in a complaint so that the driver can be disciplined (won't be holding our breath for that! though. At 2pm today John has a Uni exam, last night when I spoke to him he was very confident and positive, today he is not at all....He is badly bruised and very very sore, he keeps breaking down into tears and is a real mess, which is most unlike him, he keeps his cool very well at the most stressfull times usually but this has really trashed him. I just hope he can manage the exam ok. His elder brother is the same Uni and has had an exam of his own this morning so I haven't been able to contact him yet, he will be good for his brother as they are a great mutual support team when times get tough..... Sorry for the depressing posting but this is helping me vent my frustration at not being there for him..... at least his Mother will be able to go over on Saturday to give him a bit of love and support as he has another more difficult exam next week too..... AAAAAAAAARGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!

[keith53]

Sorry to hear that Christopha. Gutlessness and cowardice are alive and well it seems and demonstrated so well by both the perpetrator and the driver.:mad:

[Dennis O]

Not nice mate - no-one deserves this. - As a father I felt the same when I found out that my wee 6yr old boy was being belted around by a bully while I was at work - a helpless volcanic anger. We have moved schools (for additional reasons) but I still get the same feeling when I think about it. Ba$tards!

Maybe you could contact the uni, let them know what happened - they may let him sit the exam later, or do a 'special' internal assessment. The uni may also have in-house councillors to help deal with the fallout. Is there other rellies or any of your friends that he could hang with?

[bennylaird]

Make you wonder about human nature that such scum can exist.
Hope they get him and save others from a similar fate. I'm sure the uni would also give special consideration. If no joy seek out the student councillor for help.

[Blackers]

sorry to hear this sad tale. hope your son makes a full and quick recovery. makes you think what the world is coming to when you can't even talk to your old man on the phone and some piece of s##t who probably didn't even finish school let alone go to uni, thinks that he wants your property more than you.:mad:

[outback]

Miserable bastards.

Dennis has a good point, it certainly wouldn't hurt for the Uni to know what has happened, something may be able to be done.

[Christopha]

Thanks guys, John has talked with his Mum about special consideration and will talk to the Uni people today but he wants to do the exam now if he possibly can as he has worked and studied to do it today and he doesn't want to have to sit again later so to speak, and if I know him he would also feel that the bastard will have really beaten him if he has to do it later! This is the 'kid' who when bullied at school beat the bullies every time, no matter what the hiding, by laughing at the mongrels, it must be really hard to hurt someone who just laughs and laughs the more you belt him!!!!!

By the way, we are told that a mobile phone or a $100 gets you a hit of heroin in Melbourne at the moment........

[Shannon]

Hey there Christopha,

That is some bad news to share, but at least there were those (some at least) in the situation that did help as best they could.

I work at a University and in my opinion (and my bosses) your son should definately talk to his lecturer about the incident. There is a clause called "special consideration" which is for just this kind of situation. I am unsure what the University would do - be it a resit, or % of previous assessment etc - it would be their discression, but they would definately be sympathetic to your son's situation. Your son's lecturer may not have all the info, but they would be the first port of call for this unsavoury issue.
Again they would also have a coulsellor on call and this would definately be a good thing also.

I know that for a male to admit fear etc, may be frowned upon in our society, but this sort of thing can come back to bite you at some stage whether you like it or not. Society, peer pressure etc is not worth the consequences that may appear even years down the track.

About 15 years ago our next door neighbour was attacked with a machette - very long story - and my Dad was one of the 3 or 4 neighbours who wrestled the thing off the attacker. Neighbour almost died from the injuries. Life went on, not much talked about and Dad was fine.
About 5 years later Mum and he were washing up and mum handed him a long carving knife - for what seemed no reason, Dad went white and couldn't stop shaking. He worked out that it was to do with unresolved issues to do with the attack. He had no prior issues, and hadn't really thought about it since the incident, but his body and subconscience certainly had.

Shannon.

[Shannon]

Beat me to the punch by seconds there Christopa!!

Good to still tell the Uni as even though he is sitting the exam at the right time, they will look at it with different eyes knowing what he has been through so recently.

Cheers

[Kev Y.]

Chris, sorry to hear about the son's misfotrune.

I hope they catch the prick who did this and then leave him alone in the cells with a few pentridge "mothers":rolleyes:

As for the train driver, I have my own private thought about him:mad:

[AlexS]

Sorry to hear about this Christopha. As others have said, your son must apply for special consideration. It could make the difference between passing and having to repeat the subject, which in the long term could mean 6 months or a years salary. The police report will help.

I hope he quickly recovers physically and emotionally - these things can really throw you. He should know that he can talk to you and the rest of the family whenever he wants to.

[Bodgy]

Chris - make sure you do inform the school or examiners about the incident. They are remarkably understanding. We had a tradegy in the family immediately before my son did his HSC, last year. He was offered a postponement or a compensating lift in marks. Unsure of the details as HI managed it all. Certainly worth doing.

[Wongo]

I am sorry to hear that Chris. It is terrible.:(

[craigb]

Christopha,

It just sucks. I feel very sorry for your boy.
I think you should talk him into taking his exam later (under a consideration).
After all he's probably still in shock and in no condition to do an important exam.

I hope they catch the low life.

[ozwinner]

Sorry to hear that Chris, Melbourne can be a crap place to live sometimes.

While not a personal attack on my son, but he had a stereo stolen from his car at uni last month, just as the exams are getting into full swing.

Then the low lifes went back and did it again after he had the new one fitted.
Now he has had that one replaced, he will take it out himself and keep it at home.

The world is full of scum.

Al :mad:

[meerkat]

Sorry to hear what happened Christopha. Hope things pick up.

And here I am trying to bring up two boys to be considerate, caring, forgiving.... why with scum like this in society. It really makes one think about the society we live in .... most livable city heh:(

[Bodgy]

Sorry to hear what happened Christopha. Hope things pick up.

And here I am trying to bring up two boys to be considerate, caring, forgiving.... why with scum like this in society. It really makes one think about the society we live in .... most livable city heh:(

Nothing changes, there have always been low lifes. Possibly we are less effective in dealing with them these days. Also our enhanced communications spread the news more effectively than of old, giving an impression of more robberies, wars, lowlifes etc.

With my kids, and also myself, I go with the Harry Trueman (or may have been Rooseveldt) philosophy " Walk gently, speak softly, but carry a big stick"

[Farm boy]

hi christopher
that train driver is very slack, as an ex train driver myself on nsw cityrail trains you have a button you can press which can have police notified straight away you stop the train short at the next platform with the doors clothed and wait for the boys in blue to arrive,it is rather fun watching a scums face change to horror when they realise what you are doing and the cant do a thing about it
hope your son gets better
greg

[boban]

My experiences with lecturers has always been positive when it comes to extra-ordinary matters, so I think your son will be OK in the uni stakes.

Although its hard to accept, your son is lucky that it was not worse. He should have just handed over the phone. These guys when on the juice or in need of it do not act rationally. Its unacceptable behaviour to say the least but for the sake of a couple of hundred bucks its not worth the risk.

The worse part of it is that when they get caught, we will be paying for their representation in court.

and

For a completely different perspective, this is a result of what the Bali 9, Chapelle Corby and others of their ilk bestow on our society with their drug running.

[echnidna]

Very sorry to hear about your son Chris.
He really should make the circumstances known to uni even though he intends to sit the exam.
Sorry to be a pessimist but another not so good bit might come later on if they catch the scum,
the courts might give him a community work order and nothing else.

[channa]

Hey Chris - this wasn't the sort of news I expected to hear when I saw a post from you. Very sorry to hear about your son. I wish him all the best with his exam today, but agree with all the others. I work at Uni here. In NZ I would recommend they talk to their lecturer, but also go to student health to document their inuries and state of mind, (and to make sure that if they need support they have it), but this is also where they can get the paper work to apply for an aegrotat assessment - don't know if you guys have that - guess you do. I know that helpless feeling of volcanic rage that Dennis O mentions - don't know what you can do with that. We're all still here though (some a little slower than the others - its the time zone - really!), so keep us posted. Best wishes to you and yours, Chris H

[Iain]

I don't visit the city often these days and the last trip was to the WWW show, whilst waiting for SWMBO outside Crown I was confronted by several aerosols begging for money in different ways and they became abusive when the request was denied.
I didn't hang around and feel very dissapointed to say that this is what Melbourne can be like.

[ozwinner]

SWHMBO and I got accosted by these beggers one night on Southbank.
I told the scum to get out of my face or Ill cave yours in, he moved thankfully as there were 5 or 6 of them.

Al :mad:

[scooter]

Chris, that's a real prick, heart goes out to your son and to you, we can hear how frustrated you feel.


Regards.....Sean

[Ausworkshop]

I can't believe how much things have changed in Melbourne for the worst even just over the past 10-20 years while I've been growing up.

I was driving home from a friends house on Toorak rd the other night when I suddenly found myself in the middle of a full on brawl, I had to come to a complete stop while these ignorant little Mike Tyson wanna be's went at it and forgot they had moved into the middle of the rd. I locked my doors and hoped it would move back to the footpath then a bottle was thrown which smashed over my bonnet so I held my hand on the horn, revved my engine through the pack of violent 17-21 year olds to draw attention that they were in the middle of a main rd. Eventually they moved out of the way still throwing fists and kicks.

Ive never seen such full on violence right in front of my face, it was ugly and clumsy and no-body was thinking about thier actions at all, alot like the guys coming out of the court the other day who beat up that camera man.

There's a frenzy of angry youth in Australia that seem to be getting worse.
All the more reason to stay in your sheds and do woodwork I say!;)

[Caliban]

Chris
I'm really sorry about what has happened. I can't add any wisdom to what's already been said, only my condolences.
:mad:

[Christopha]

Thank you all for your good wishes for John and us, his family. Johnny sat for the exam and feels that he has done well, I hope he is correct! He has an appointment with the Uni people in the morning and he should be Ok as far as special consideration goes, he is taking the police report details etc with him.Big brother Allen met him at Spencer street after he finished his exam and walked with John right to the Old Exhibition building which is where the exams are held, Al said that by the time they both arrived that John was much calmer and more settled, thank goodness. Our two boys are very different to one another but they really care about each other and are always there for one another in a crisis. I guess that if your kids live and work so far from home that it really is fantastic that they do that living and working in reasonably close proximity. Poor bugger had to catch the bloody train home again tonight but one of his mates went with him and is staying overnight too so we are very pleased about that! Marg will be heading over straight after work on saturday and the three of them are going out to dinner together, that will do them all good.
Once again, thank you all for your kind words and also for letting me "Unload"

[DanP]

you have a button you can press which can have police notified straight away

Not on trains in Vic.

Stoppers. The CCTV footage on Melbourne trains is excellent. There are also a couple of hundred of coppers who do nothing but ride trains and deal with those scum to whom you are referring (trust me I was one of em for two and a half very long years). Most of those will have a good knowledge of the shyte that rides the trains on their lines and therefore stand a good chance of recognising the POS from the stills of the CCTV.

The copper who took the report should pass the investigation on to the Transit Safety Divisions Crime Investigation Unit, as it is in their criteria. This is not just a simple theft, it is a robbery and is up the list a bit further in relation to its severity. Not to say the court won't give a pees poor sentence, but it should be better than he would get for a theft.

Transit CIU have one of the best clean up rates in the department because of the excellent evidence they get from uniform members and the TV footage. There is a reasonable chance that the crook will be caught.

Dan

[Driver]

Chris

Only just caught up with this thread. I hope your boy will be OK. What a lousy experience for him! I can only imagine how angry and frustrated you feel. It's some consolation for all of you that he has his brother so close by. There's no-one like family in a situation like this.

[Rusty]

Christopha, the offender will get his down the track, sooner or later. Your son has shown real class and guts. Best wishes to you and yours.

Rusty.

[E. maculata]

Christopher, your boy sounds like a stable bloke, and with a family like yours this will just seem like a little hiccup of life to him while.
Don't let it burn yu up too much, & I reckon DanP might be right there's probably a 6x9 and a new boyfriend named Bubba waiting for the scum who did this in the not too distant future.

[Harry72]

Thats just plain wrong, whats happening to this country?

[Schtoo]

This is one of the things that worries me about going home. Not me per se, but LOML doesn't have much street smarts for this kinda stuff.

It is one of the nice things about living here. If she goes for a walk, comes home late, etc. I don't worry very much at all because nothing really happens around here. Heck, me too. It's a relaxing feeling to walk around and know the chance of being jumped is very, very low.

Not saying there aren't plenty of stoopid people around, but they are usually just plain dumb, not dangerous too.

Christopha, I really hope they get that scumbucket, and he gets more than a smack on the wrist. Nobody needs that kinda crap, especially when there are more important things to be worrying about than this.

If your son does well on his exams, shout him another beer from us. :D

I'd do it if I could. ;)