Tarrawingee tries to make sense of attack on local member Helen Haines
The community of Tarrawingee is grappling with the arrest of local resident Brendan Nugent, who is accused of attacking federal MP Helen Haines. Neighbors described Nugent as an increasingly isolated individual who had become a source of fear in the small town.
Why it matters
The incident highlights the intersection of mental health, social isolation, and the safety of public officials in rural communities.
Brendan Nugent's Tarrawingee home runs parallel to a neighbour's dirt driveway and is overgrown with shrubs, trees and long grass. ( ABC News: Erin Somerville )
Link copied Share Share article In a dark, overgrown home on the edge of a long, dirt driveway lived a man who nearby residents had grown to fear.
Empty beer bottles and slab cartons are strewn around the verandah and sheds, and the flyscreen door hangs perilously from its hinges, threatening to clatter from its fixings among broken glass.
Grass and weeds have grown tall around the property.
Through the windows, inside is dank and abandoned.
Brendan Nugent has been absent from the home since police arrested the 43-year-old on Monday afternoon, charging him with attacking federal MP Helen Haines, a long-time friend of the Nugent family.
Until then, few outside Tarrawingee had heard of the north-east Victorian hamlet.
Also covering this story
3 other newsrooms covered this event. We read each version separately.
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