Elizabeth Krantz – 3 January 2008
In a situation reminiscent of the racist murder of Andrew Farrugia, and the racist murder of Leon Robinson, a 49-year-old father of five was enjoying a game of beach cricket with his family at the coastal town of Geraldton 425 km north of Perth in Western Australia when he was attacked by a large group of Aboriginals and bashed to death with his own cricket bat.
Bill Rowe (pictured), a well-known and respected farmer from the small farming community of Yalgoo, two hour’s drive east of Geraldton was enjoying a game of beach cricket with his family at Geraldton’s Sunset Beach late in the afternoon on Christmas Day when a group of Aboriginals spoiling for a fight with white people arrived and began harassing the family groups, rummaging through eskies and stealing alcohol. Intimidated, some families packed up and left.
The police began to receive phone calls from family groups reporting the disturbances, thievery and intimidation.
The mob turned their attention to the Rowe family, who believing they had safety in numbers, told the group of about five Aboriginals to stop taking drinks out of their esky.
The gutless thugs left but returned a short time later with about 20 others and attacked the Rowe family with bottles, rocks and sticks. Rowe family members again urgently phoned the police.
When Bill Rowe’s future son-in-law, Luke Neil, 29, told them to get out his esky, he was viciously attacked. Mr Neil’s face needed 35 stitches after it was slashed with a broken beer bottle. The attack also left him with a broken jaw and broken collarbone.