The Australian prime minister has hailed him a hero for rushing out of his shop to help independent MP Helen Haines after she was allegedly run down in a deliberate attack – but barber Ricky Jefferies says he had “no choice” but to intervene. Standing on Tuesday morning outside his shop, which is right next to Haines’ electorate office in Wangaratta, Jefferies was almost shy about the whole thing. Jefferies spoke about how he had just finished cutting a young family’s hair when a car hit Haines at about 4pm on Monday.
When he heard the loud crash, he ran to help. The driver was still in the car, the car was still on, and … one man sat in front of the moving car,” he said. The prime minister alleged it was an attack and it “wasn’t an accident”.
Witnesses have described the driver as doing a U-turn before allegedly ramming Haines against a vehicle, then reversing before doing it a second time, the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said on Tuesday morning. Jefferies said after getting the driver out of the car, he held the man down. He said he told him he couldn’t leave but that the man would be alright, in an attempt to calm him while others helped Haines.
He also alleged the man had a knife on him. Basically just … took it out of his pocket and threw it away,” he alleged. Jefferies, who was back at work cutting hair at 7am on Tuesday, said he didn’t stop to think about the danger, only that his wife might be upset if he got hurt.
I can tell you from my own personal dealings that she is a genuine, kind person,” he said.
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