The Luke Batty Case: One Last Deadly Cricket Practice

[Tyabb, Australia]

Rosie Batty met Greg Anderson in 1992, but cut off their relationship after he showed alarming red flags such as being violent. She stopped talking to him for eight long years which resulted in both of them having other relationships. However, when they rekindled their fling, Rosie ended up pregnant. She acknowledged the pregnancy as an accident saying she had never planned to have children due to her mother’s death when she was young. The trauma from her mother’s death formed a consuming fear about losing more people she loved.

Rosie went on to have her son, Luke Batty, with a few of her friends by her side. Greg chose to be absent as Luke was brought into the world, but later changed his mind and decided to give fatherhood a go.

Not long after Luke’s birth, Greg physically assaulted Rosie for the first time while she still had cesarean stitches on her stomach. She ended the relationship, but still kept in contact with him for the wellbeing of Luke. By age two, their son was now witnessing their physical altercations, even though they weren’t together. Greg threatened Rosie by saying that he would kill her and her pets if she ever attempted to keep Luke from him. The next day after the chilling statement, Rosie got a restraining order against him, but because his anger was never directed toward Luke, he was allowed to continue seeing him.

Rosie’s restraining order against Greg eventually ran out and she didn’t bother to renew it because he stopped his intimidating behavior…for a while. When Rosie ended a long term relationship she was having with another male, Greg swooped back into her life. At this time, he was living out of his car without a job so he assumed that Rosie would offer him a place to stay. It was the year 2013 when that alleged promise fell through. As a result, he spitefully broke into her apartment, chased her around home, and assaulted her, all while Luke stood as a witness. Greg was arrested by police, but set free that same day after an interview *pictured below*. Another protective order was set in place, but it excluded Luke once again, meaning that Greg could see his son whenever. Unfortunately, Greg steadily began showing his frightening anger toward Luke, who was now 10 years old.

One day, he pulled a knife on his son in the car and threatened his life saying “It could all end like this.” Although Rosie had always trusted Greg with Luke- even during his rage toward her- this incident caused her to forbid him from contacting both of them. During a court hearing relating to the protective order, Rosie found out that Greg had past child pornography charges against him. Due to Australian privacy laws, Rosie never knew about the offense and police were not allowed to disclose his charges to her, even when she filed for a restraining order.

In July of 2013, Greg challenged the court order that prevented him from seeing Luke. A judge granted him rights to spend time with the boy as long as they were in public places. Rosie agreed to this ruling believing that it was the safest compromise. On February 12th, 2014, Greg showed up at one of Luke’s cricket practices in a public area. He was in a cheerful, supportive mood while also obeying the guidelines.

The father and son went to practice cricket near one of the cricket nets. As the evening was approaching, Rosie tried to get Luke’s attention to go home, but he begged for a couple more minutes with his father. As Rosie turned her back to allow Luke to spend more time with Greg, she heard what she described as “a disturbing sound.” When she turned around, Luke was lying lifeless on the ground as Greg hovered over him. It appeared to be a freak accident where Greg accidentally hit Luke in the head with a cricket bat. However, when one of the cricket coaches rushed to help with the situation, Greg said, “He’s fine. He’s in heaven now.” Young children who happened to witness the ordeal later told police that they saw Greg intentionally hit his son with the bat repeatedly followed by pulling out a knife and stabbing him to death.

As police arrived on scene, Greg began stabbing himself with the same knife he used to kill his son and resisted arrest, resulting in a suicide by cop situation.

Rosie used this traumatizing experience to become a voice and make an impact in regards to anti-family violence. On her son’s one year death anniversary, she posted to his memorial Facebook page, “I miss you and I still find it incomprehensible that I can never cuddle you or steal a kiss on your cheek whilst you’re asleep. The house is quiet, something is missing. It’s you. I will always miss you my beautiful, handsome, intelligent, and perfect little man.”