How the West was Won.

JOHN PAT... WA ...1983

On the night of September 28, 1983, in Roeburne, W.A., five off-duty police arrived at the Victoria Hotel after a social night of drinking at a local golf club. One of the officers verbally abused an Aboriginal man waiting to be served at the bar. This man, Ashley James, was followed out of the hotel where one of the policeman knocked him to the ground. James retaliated and an all out fight began with the off-duty police. People who tried to help him or rescue him became involved.
One such rescuer was John Pat. He was trying to pull Ashley James away from the fight. As he did so, a policeman walked up to him and punched him in the mouth. A witness testified that John Pat "fell back and didn't get up. I heard his head hit the road'.
The fight was over after fifteen minutes when police reinforcements arrived with a van. Despite his concussed and senseless condition witnesses stated that John Pat was picked up by the hair and kicked in the face. They also te...