Steven Cleary: Covid conspiracy theorist ordered to pay compensation for beating cop with a baseball bat in Warrnambool
Steven Cleary: Covid conspiracy theorist must pay damages for hitting cop with baseball bat in Warrnambool
- Officer awarded $75,000 after being beaten by attacker
- Was hit multiple times in the back of the head and arms
A felon who hit police with a baseball bat after they asked a teenager to put on a face mask during the Covid lockdowns has been ordered to pay $75,000 in damages to one of the officers.
Steven John Cleary was jailed for three years and two months for viciously assaulting Senior Constable Rowan Baldam and Constable William Ringin in Warrnambool, southwest Victoria, on 9 October 2021.
The conspiracy theorist who claimed to be “The King” during his arrest pleaded guilty to arguing, intentionally causing injury, assaulting an aid worker on duty and two counts of resisting an aid worker on duty.
Judge Caitlin English this week ruled that Cleary must pay $75,000 in damages to Snr Const Baldam for the continued pain and suffering he caused as a result of the head and hand injuries he sustained in the attack.
Police CCTV footage shows the two officers approaching a teenager who was walking without a face mask.
The teen refused to comply with the controversial pandemic directive and soon after Cleary approached the group with a baseball bat
Amid a tense confrontation, the teen, who cannot be named for legal reasons, grabbed Const Ringin’s firearm, with the officer yelling “gun grab” as a wild brawl broke out.
In the chaos, Cleary rushed over to the two officers and hit Snr Const Baldam over the head as he lay on the floor in a fetal position.
Snr Const Baldam suffered a broken thumb and a laceration to his head from the attack, with blood streaming down the back of his head as he sat on the side of the road.
‘While in the fetal position and the back of his head clenched in extreme pain, the respondent struck Senior Constable (Baldam) directly on the head several times with tremendous force. He felt he would die if the attack continued,” said Ms English The age.
“Considering what he considered a fatal attack, Constable (Ringin) attacked the respondent to save his partner.”
Senior Constable Rowan Baldam is pictured after the attack
Amid a tense confrontation, the teen, who cannot be named for legal reasons, reached for Const Ringin’s firearm, with the officer yelling “gun grab” as a wild brawl broke out.
In the chaos, Cleary rushed to the two officers and punched Snr. Const Baldam over the head as he lay on the floor in a fetal position.
He was eventually tasered by Const Ringin and apprehended after police arrived.
Snr Const Baldam told the court he remembered feeling “the amount of blood” running down the back of his head as he sat on a gutter.
“I was very concerned that I could lose consciousness at any time and I might not wake up,” said Const Baldam.
“I thought I was going to die.”
During his arrest, Cleary called the officers “Roman dogs” and told the officers “I am the king” and that handcuffing him was an “act of war.”
Judge English recognized that the $75,000 payment could lead to the sale of Cleary’s home, where his wife and two of his children still live.