The man accused of deliberately driving into Victorian MP Helen Haines had allegedly terrorised neighbours for years, issuing threats and, on one occasion, running over a family dog.
Brendan Nugent, 43, was arrested outside the independent MP’s electorate office in Wangaratta on Monday. He allegedly used his four-wheel drive to strike the 65-year-old and pin her against another vehicle twice.
Dr Haines suffered catastrophic injuries in the alleged attack and was taken to hospital, where she underwent emergency surgery.
The independent member for Indi has since been confirmed to have lost one leg and remains in a critical condition while surgeons work to save her other leg.
Our News Outlet can now reveal that Nugent had allegedly been the subject of repeated police callouts over volatile behaviour, while neighbours said they had lived in fear for years.
Residents of Tarrawingee, a small rural community in north-east Victoria, described alleged threats, incoherent screaming and an incident in which Nugent was accused of running over and killing a neighbour’s dog.
“Some of the neighbours have had to take out AVOs against him,” one resident told Our News Outlet.
“He was right up in their face and screaming. He threatened to kill one man and he also ran over and killed their dog.
Federal MP Helen Haines has lost a leg and remains in a critical condition after an alleged deliberate attack outside her Wangaratta electorate office
Brendan Nugent, 43, from nearby Tarrawingee, remains in police custody over the incident. No charges had been laid as of Tuesday afternoon
“We have been really scared for years. We live in the middle of nowhere and I still lock my doors because of Brendan.”
The neighbour, who withheld her name because she feared retaliation, alleged that police had taken Nugent away numerous times and that he had been admitted to the Kerferd psychiatric unit at Northeast Health Wangaratta.
She also claimed authorities had told her Nugent had schizophrenia and used marijuana to manage his symptoms.
The neighbour said police had become familiar with Nugent after years of complaints about loud music, screaming and alleged aggressive conduct.
“He blasts out heavy metal music night and day, screaming across the whole valley, and that’s when we know he is on one and we are careful then.
“If we come across him, he screams at us and says we are evil.
“It has got to the point where we have all had to drive our kids up to the school bus because they are scared of him.
“The thing is, for the last two months he has been quiet and that’s the longest time we have had without the noise and him screaming incoherent rants.”
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Nugent’s neighbours told Our News Outlet they had been “terrified” of him for years
Helen Haines and her husband Phil
But she said the relative peace ended just days before Nugent was arrested over the attack on Dr Haines.
‘Last week, my husband came across him in the bushes and he jumped out yelling, “Bad things have happened here,” over and over, and we knew we had to watch out again.’
On Monday afternoon, Nugent allegedly drove his white Toyota LandCruiser into Wangaratta, where Dr Haines was retrieving items from the boot of her car outside her electorate office on Murphy Street.
Witnesses said the driver made a U-turn before allegedly ramming the MP against her vehicle, reversing and striking her a second time.
Local barber Ricky Jefferies rushed to the scene and confronted Nugent, who allegedly had a knife.
Mr Jefferies managed to disarm and restrain him until police arrived.
On Tuesday morning, it was confirmed that Dr Haines had lost a leg due to injuries sustained.
The neighbour described Nugent as a loner who spent much of his time by the creek on his rural property and had not received visitors in years.
‘He’d go to Coles and take his dog with him, but other than that he never really left and no one has ever been to see him.
‘He doesn’t have a job, never has as long as we have known him. He couldn’t hold one down. He is not coherent most of the time.
‘His parents bought him the house but they don’t come and see him and it’s a pigsty. I have never been inside but you can see it’s a mess.’
She said Nugent had been easier to approach when she and her husband first moved to the area about six years ago.
‘When we first moved here he was a little more coherent then, still not easy to deal with but you could make some sense out of him.
‘My husband would speak to him when he saw him and noticed his grass was long and asked if he wanted us to put a cow in.
‘He got really angry and snapped that he didn’t eat animals.’
