http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sout ... 3908135332The once-feared Magpies player told reporters it was a combination he had previously worn during a protest at Parliament House.
“This item is known as a gazunder, it’s white enamel, commonly known to us common people, as pisspot.”, he said.
“I wore it on my head when last I attended the Parliament of this state.... because I was so disgusted.”
He told Magistrate Alfio Grasso he had also brought the central piece of evidence with him.
“This is the bucket that the water was in,” he said, indicating the faded red bucket he had carried into the building.
“The one under the tap that I’d been feeding the birds with for 20 years.”
Granger, 59, has pleaded not guilty to assaulting Mr Atkinson at Woodville Park on March 26.
As revealed by The Advertiser, the once-feared football strongman allegedly hurled a bucket of water over the Parliamentary Speaker, who was riding his bike.
For months, reporting of the case was prohibited by a suppression order imposed after Mr Atkinson claimed publicity would expose him to “undue hardship”.
In his witness statement, Mr Atkinson alleged the bucket was “three-quarters full” of water and “cascaded” over him after Granger threw it “in an underarm fashion”.
He claimed it was part of Granger’s “escalating” behaviour toward him, which dated back to 2008 and included an incident at a polling station.
Granger played more than 100 SANFL games with Port Adelaide from 1975 to 1982 and was known for his on-field violent streak.
He notoriously ended the career of Neville “Twiggy” Caldwell with a king hit in 1981, and knocked Graham Cornes down in similar fashion the following season.
Giving evidence today, Mr Atkinson said he had known Granger since 1988, when the footballer had done some work for then-Labor Party state secretary Terry Cameron.
He said that, since 2012, their relationship had been difficult and that Granger would often yell and shout at him when they encountered one another.
Mr Atkinson said he was letterboxing his electorate on his bike when Granger shouted abuse and tipped the water over him.
“His yelling was directed at me, something like, ‘Watch out’, I can’t be sure if he was swearing or not,” he said.
“He ran toward me and he unloaded the contents of the bucket on me.
“His shouting was directed at me but the narrative didn’t make very much sense to me.”
Mr Atkinson said that he suffered no injuries and neither his clothes nor his bike were damaged in the incident.
However, he said that the left-hand side of his body was soaked.
Granger declined to asked Mr Atkinson any questions in cross-examination.
“My defence is that I don’t have any questions to Mr Atkinson, I would rather not speak,” he said.
“I would rather not speak to anybody in this court.”
The court also heard evidence from Granger’s neighbour, Krystena Barron, who witnessed the incident.
She said she was alerted to an “almighty commotion” by Granger’s “bellowing”.
“I thought it was louder than usual, it can be a common occurence,” she said.
“I saw a distressed, red-faced cyclist with a phone next to his ear... My first thought was ‘good, someone is going to call the police’.
“He said ‘will you go witness’, and I said ‘definitely’.”
Ms Barron, who has lived next door to Granger since 1980, said Mr Atkinson was drenched but declined her offer of a towel.
She said the puddle made by the bucket was about four square metres.
Asked if she had heard what Granger said, she said it was “hard to catch the whole sentence” and that it “did not sound rational”.
Granger also declined to cross-examine Ms Barron. He asked the court to give consideration to four A3 pages of documents, calling it his defence.
He said those documents were to be read in conjunction with letters he had written to court and information that was “available in the system of governance of this state and Australia”.
Mr Grasso will hand down his verdict at 2.15pm today.
Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2015 12:03 pm
