Man accused of running down MP Helen Haines says attack was accidental

Brendan Nugent, the 43-year-old local resident charged with dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally causing serious injury and harming a Commonwealth public official, told investigators he did not intend to strike independent MP Helen Haines. Nugent said his actions were the result of panic, not a personal grudge, and noted he had previously voted for the Liberal member for Indi.

Haines, 65, was struck outside her Wangaratta electorate office on October 19 and was taken to Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital, where she remains in serious but stable condition after losing both legs. Police allege the incident was a targeted attack and are reviewing whether it was opportunistic or premeditated.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush said detectives are examining all records related to Haines and Nugent and are not ruling out additional serious charges. He added that investigators are also looking into a possible “proxy” motive linked to a family dispute.

Nugent’s family, who described Haines as a close friend of more than two decades, said they will cooperate with police. In the House of Representatives, MPs placed an orange cardboard cockatoy in Haines’s vacant seat as a tribute.

During his first court appearance, Nugent’s lawyer, Chirag Patel, informed the magistrate that his client suffers from idiopathic transverse myelitis and sustained a concussion in the incident, but is not on prescribed medication.