I think Egerton needs to let it go. The can thrower was obviously in the wrong but he appears to be doing all he can to make amends, and the can hit his son in the arm, at worst it might have left a little bruise no worse than his mate giving him a dead arm at recess. I really think the dad is making a mountain out of a molehill.

Agreed Billo, guy made a mistake and has suffered some consequences as a result. He was obviously straight up about it at the time in that he gave his name and details rather than just walking away and has called to appologise as well.

Having this sort of thing taken to court is IMO way over the top. Surely the courts have better things to do than than make rulings on someone throwing a can that inadvertantly hit a 10 year old on the arm?

Stupid act but common sense has to prevail surely.

So you are saying that being banned from attending games (maybe only for just this season) is fair punishment for assault and intent to assault?

I don't see anything wrong with him being prosecuted, he broke the law and should be punished. Sure, the courts more than likely have "bigger" cases to deal with but it hasn't stopped them before.

what if everyone was throwing cans around a venue and all they had to do if it hit someone was say sorry!! it would be chaos and therefore the league and the law/police puts their foot down in these type of situation to ensure the future environment stays wholesome and safe. Plus it is not just about the injury (or lack of), that kid and his family had their whole night/weekend ruined by no fault of their own and will probably never go back to the basketball. It is not fair that that happened to them and therefore the action they take is well within their rights. I am sure he is a good guy and made a bad mistake but he has to take the consequences for his actions!

Was it an empty or full can?

IMO ban for the season ban (costing him financially) and a public apology is sufficient punishment.

A parent through a water bottle at my 4 yr old son a few weeks ago that hit him on the arm. It hurt my son and it left a red mark. He apologised, I accepted and we move on.

This incident is blown out of proportion IMO.

so a pasionate supporter is OK but a passionate parent is not!!!?? ok you go to the basketball with your kids and I will get drunk and throw cans in your direction, i am sure you would love that!

"His defence "I'm from Adelaide" would get him off if the jury was posters from this forum"

Haha. True that, anon.

Anon, to be fair, "grow up" applies to the can-thrower first and foremost. Responsibility rests with them and them alone for this act. (Does sound like they've taken steps to submit their name, apologise, etc so that's something.)

If a can hit thrown by some drunk idiot hit me I would have wrap my shin around their head. Sounds like he got lucky hitting a little kid with a dad far more reasonable than me.

I assume the father has made a complaint to the police over the matter. The police need to investigate whether any charges could be laid, but then whether there would be good prospects of a conviction. If the matter gets to full police investigation stage, witness statements need to be taken, identities need to be confirmed, a full course of events needs to be determined and evidence gathered. The easiest way to assist a police investigation is for alleged offenders to make a full and frank admissions which then becomes police evidence.

Now, here is the interesting situation. The alleged offender resides in one state and the alleged offence occurred in another. While the alleged offender provided details to the boy's father and then rang to apologise, we are assuming that these details were given honestly and correctly. As a defence, the fact remains the alleged offender's identity must be proven first. Many court cases fail this way and this is one of the reasons why all drivers must carry their licence while driving to ensure that identity may be confirmed.

After all, in that situation it would be very easy to say on the night "sorry about that..." "what's your name?" "my name is Joe Blake, but I have a new phone and don't know the number yet" get his details, then, put your phone to private, ring the Dad up a few days later and apologise again using that false name.

Any court action must occur in Queensland (the SA Courts have no jurisdiction to preside over Queensland offences) and it is unlikely that the police would extradite someone over a matter like this. However, if it did go to court, then an "in absentia" verdict could be delivered if there was strong enough evidence, or an arrest warrant issued. Unless the crime is a very serious nature then the court system is clogged up and so if a charge was laid and the alleged offender not in court, it is likely the charge would float around in the ether until the alleged offender made a trip to Qld, got pulled over for a traffic infringement, the cops saw the outstanding matter and before you know it, the alleged offender is sharing a cell in Boggo Rd (is that jail still going?)

Now Queensland police may make a request to SAPOL to interview the alleged offender to obtain a statement and they are quite within their rights to do that.

There is a reason why lawyers tell their clients to remain silent.

what? its getting uglier everyday. a sports star broke in to a home and now is he's even more famous than before.

and the billboard is asking if he's ever the best?

He paid $50k to make the matter 'go away' :)

yes and our kids will look up to him and will think its OK to break in to someone's home because it will even make you famous. how cool is it.

who are we talking about? clues?

Rugby Union player that dates a swimmer was caught in someones house at the Gold Coast a few years ago now

Be nice if people read the article lol. To answer some of the questions;

"... we felt banning him for the rest of the season was appropriate until we see the outcome of the investigation."

Rest of the season ban lol, like it's worth rocking up to atm anyway.

&

"It was a pretty full can of beer," Egerton said.