Nine headbutts: Junee man jailed over frenzied bus attack

A MAN who unleashed a violent alcohol-fuelled assault on a bus packed with schoolchildren in Junee has been jailed over the frenzied attack.

Shane Edward Hunt, 53, will spend at least a year behind bars after repeatedly headbutting and kicking a fellow passenger during the shocking incident aboard a shared Wagga-to-Junee bus on June 19.

The attack unfolded in the aisle as students travelled home from school, with one child caught directly in the path of the violence when the 61-year-old victim was sent crashing backwards onto a seat.

Hunt appeared via video link from Junee Correctional Centre in Wagga Local Court on Monday, August 10, where he pleaded guilty to affray, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and contravening an apprehended violence order.

The court heard Hunt was drunk and behaving erratically on the bus, forcing the driver to pull over near the Junee abattoirs as it approached town on Byrnes Road about 4.30pm.

The bus was stopped near Junee abattoirs on Byrnes Road when the violence erupted | Image: Google Maps

Footage of what happened next, obtained exclusively by The Junee Bulletin shortly after the attack, shows the female bus driver walking up the aisle towards Hunt when the 61-year-old man seated behind him approaches from the rear and places a bag strap around his neck.

The court heard the strap was pulled backwards for about 21 seconds as Hunt struggled against it.

The situation rapidly escalated after the older man released the strap, with both men standing and confronting each other in the aisle.

Hunt is seen in the footage grabbing the man and headbutting him twice, forcing him backwards along the aisle, before grabbing his jumper and delivering a another headbutt.

The third blow sent the man crashing onto a bus seat occupied by a student.

Images: Supplied

Hunt then pulled the man from the seat and forced him onto the floor of the bus before repeatedly headbutting him as other passengers desperately tried to intervene.

The court heard Hunt delivered four more headbutts while the man was on the floor before kicking him and lunging forward to headbutt him again.

In total, Hunt headbutted the 61-year-old nine times during the attack.

The victim suffered four cuts to his forehead, face and forearm and was treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics before being taken to Junee Hospital.

The violence unfolded in front of dozens of schoolchildren, some of whom screamed and contacted their parents as the attack played out around them.

Scared schoolchildren contacted their parents to pick them up | Images: Supplied

Following the assault, Hunt could be heard in footage obtained by The Bulletin claiming he had acted to free himself after being grabbed from behind.

“How f****** dare you grab me from behind mate, and with a rope, in front of students,” Hunt said before apologising to the children.

“Sorry kids. I only did that to get myself out of that position.”

READ MORE: Junee bus attack sparks calls for change

Police initially spoke with both men at the scene, with Hunt repeating his claim that he had acted in self-defence.

He was not arrested until several hours later, when police attended a Junee home that evening and found him in breach of an apprehended domestic violence order.

He was subsequently charged and has remained behind bars since the night of the attack.

Image: Supplied

The court heard Hunt was already serving an intensive correction order when the assault occurred.

In sentencing, Judge Gareth Christofi determined the seriousness of Hunt’s offending had crossed the threshold where imprisonment was the only appropriate penalty.

The presence of schoolchildren on the bus, and their exposure to the violent attack, also formed part of the circumstances considered by the court.

Hunt was sentenced to 18 months in prison, backdated to the date of his arrest on June 19.

His sentence will expire on December 18, 2027, with a 12-month non-parole period making him eligible for release on June 18, 2027.