Burswood Assault

Britney's men 'threw me to the ground'
RONAN O'CONNELL, The West Australian November 11, 2009, 5:31 am

WAN / Mogens Johansen ©
A 24-year-old Port Kennedy father says he will be unable to work for at least two months after his arm was broken in three places when he was allegedly dragged down a flight of stairs by a group of security guards at the Britney Spears' concert at Burswood at the weekend.
Ashley Hartley said yesterday he had been due to start a lucrative new job on a Karratha mine site today but could lose out on the position because of the "thuggish" actions of up to five guards, who ejected him from the Burswood Dome about 7.30pm on Friday night before the concert began.
He spent five hours on Monday having surgery on his right arm in Royal Perth Hospital after it broke in three places between his shoulder and elbow. Mr Hartley and his sister Jodie Wiltschut claimed that he had been buying a drink prior to the concert when he became involved in an argument with a security guard.
Mr Hartley said he had told the guard to leave him alone but he had called for back-up and four other guards had then arrived.
"They grabbed hold of me and just dragged me away from my seat," Mr Hartley said. "Next thing I knew they are dragging me down a flight of stairs and I felt a huge pain in my arm. They threw me on the ground outside and kept abusing me."
Mr Hartley said he had made a formal complaint to Burswood and planned to report the incident to police.
He said he would be financially crippled because of his injury and would struggle to meet his rent and car repayments and care for his two-year-old daughter.
A spokeswoman for Burswood said it was "inappropriate" to comment because police might investigate the incident.