Photo credit: Aljazeera
Australian lawmaker Helen Haines has had both legs amputated after being rammed by a car outside her electoral office, her husband said on Wednesday as the man accused of the attack appeared in court.
Doctors amputated Haines’s left leg after she was struck twice by a car in Wangaratta, northeast of Melbourne, on Monday, Phil Haines said. They worked for days to save her right leg but were ultimately unsuccessful, he told a news conference in Melbourne.
“The good news in all this is Helen is alive and she’s stable. That is the most important thing for our family,” he said.
Brendan Nugent, a resident of the rural town of Tarrawingee within Haines’s electorate, was charged with three offences: dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally causing serious injury, and causing harm to a public official.
Additional charges of cannabis cultivation and possession have also been laid against Nugent, court filings showed.
Members of the public restrained the suspect at the scene before he was arrested.
Haines, an independent lawmaker who has championed causes including climate change and regional housing, remains in critical condition.
Police are still investigating the motive for the rare attack on an elected official.
During a brief court appearance on Wednesday, the accused’s lawyer said his client suffers from a rare neurological condition called idiopathic transverse myelitis and was also being treated for concussion, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. His lawyer told the magistrate his client had some mental health concerns and that it was his first time in custody.
There was no application for bail, and the case was deferred until Feb.4.
Source: CBC News
