News (Media Awareness Project) - Australia: Drug Dealer Fighter Hit In Attack |
| Title: | Australia: Drug Dealer Fighter Hit In Attack |
| Published On: | 2000-10-26 |
| Source: | West Australian (Australia) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-03 04:18:52 |
DRUG DEALER FIGHTER HIT IN ATTACK
NORTHERN suburbs drugs campaigner Shane Ragno was bashed by men wearing balaclavas when he answered a knock at the door this week.
Mr Ragno said he believed the assault, shortly before midnight on Monday, was part of a campaign of terror which has continued since he began investigating his son's death.
His son, Shane Jr., died of a drug overdose in suspicious circumstances last year.
Mr Ragno said he opened the door because he heard a female voice, which he thought was his daughter's.
One of three men said "You're f....d" before hitting Mr Ragno on the head with a metal bar. Another man then hit him on the face with a piece of wood.
The assailants ran off when Mr Ragno started to fight back and called out for his son and another man who was staying at the house.
The incident was reported to police.
Mr Ragno leads a local community group called Parents Against Drug Dealers, which organised a public meeting last month to share their concerns with police and politicians.
He said he had been monitoring the local heroin scene and dobbing in dealers to police since his son's death.
Since he began these activities and a campaign for an inquest into his son's death in May last year, Mr Ragno and his family have experienced dozens of threatening phone calls, vandalism - including an apparent attempt to blow up the family car - and attacks on their pets.
After an inquest this year, State Coroner Alastair Hope found that Shane Ragno Jr. died from a self-administered overdose of heroin.
Mr Ragno has lodged an appeal against the finding to the Supreme Court and taken complaints about the police investigation into his son's death to police internal affairs and another government agency.
"It looks like I'm stirring too hard or getting too close to something," he said.
"I'm just trying to get truth and justice for my son and force the police to crack down a bit harder on the street-level dealers.
"We need some more rights and more respect for parents who are out there fighting for their kids."
NORTHERN suburbs drugs campaigner Shane Ragno was bashed by men wearing balaclavas when he answered a knock at the door this week.
Mr Ragno said he believed the assault, shortly before midnight on Monday, was part of a campaign of terror which has continued since he began investigating his son's death.
His son, Shane Jr., died of a drug overdose in suspicious circumstances last year.
Mr Ragno said he opened the door because he heard a female voice, which he thought was his daughter's.
One of three men said "You're f....d" before hitting Mr Ragno on the head with a metal bar. Another man then hit him on the face with a piece of wood.
The assailants ran off when Mr Ragno started to fight back and called out for his son and another man who was staying at the house.
The incident was reported to police.
Mr Ragno leads a local community group called Parents Against Drug Dealers, which organised a public meeting last month to share their concerns with police and politicians.
He said he had been monitoring the local heroin scene and dobbing in dealers to police since his son's death.
Since he began these activities and a campaign for an inquest into his son's death in May last year, Mr Ragno and his family have experienced dozens of threatening phone calls, vandalism - including an apparent attempt to blow up the family car - and attacks on their pets.
After an inquest this year, State Coroner Alastair Hope found that Shane Ragno Jr. died from a self-administered overdose of heroin.
Mr Ragno has lodged an appeal against the finding to the Supreme Court and taken complaints about the police investigation into his son's death to police internal affairs and another government agency.
"It looks like I'm stirring too hard or getting too close to something," he said.
"I'm just trying to get truth and justice for my son and force the police to crack down a bit harder on the street-level dealers.
"We need some more rights and more respect for parents who are out there fighting for their kids."
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