Media release – Bob Brown Foundation, 3 March 2025
Tasmanian logger found guilty of assault
Patrick Mellor was working with Tasmanian logging company T.P Bennett and Sons when he assaulted a protester in May 2023. He was today sentenced to three months’ imprisonment for the assault. The sentence of imprisonment was wholly suspended for two years.
Bob Brown Foundation calls on Premier Rockliff and all leaders of the native forest logging industry to condemn this violent attack on a protester.
“We want this to send a loud and clear message to everyone that violence against anyone is never acceptable. Violence against our fellow forest defenders in protests is always unacceptable. The onus is on everyone – even those who back native forest logging – to condemn this violence,” said Jenny Weber, Campaigns Manager with the Bob Brown Foundation.
“Patrick Mellor dangerously cut the rope that attached Helena Griffith’s tree-sit to a logging machine in May 2023. He has shown no remorse, and Magistrate Hartnett today pointed to his “callous disregard” as he was sentenced for the “serious assault”.
“Helena Griffith was peacefully defending native forests that were a breeding habitat for the critically endangered swift parrot. And it’s now a graveyard. Forestry Tasmania logged and incinerated these public forests that were not gazetted as Forestry Tasmania managed land in 1991. Forestry Tasmania was not entitled to be on the land, as logging Crown land is illegal,” said Jenny Weber.
Featured image above: Helena Griffith’s protest rig. Below: Patrick Mellor (Facebook).
