Dawesville: Elderly man recovering after hammer thrown through car windscreen at speed

A 77-year-old Dawesville man was left scratched up and shaken after a terrifying incident in Mandurah this morning.

Jock Henderson thought he had run over a person when a workman’s hammer exploded through his windscreen in the early hours of this morning.

It was 3.15am and Mr Henderson was driving at 70km/h along Mandurah Bypass, going home from his bakery job, when the hammer hit.

“I tell you what, that woke me up,” Mr Henderson said.

“I didn’t know what it was.

“I was covered in bits of glass and my chest was scratched, and I was bleeding, but I was very lucky.”

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Concerned he had hit someone, Mr Henderson stopped his car at the side of the road.

He said there was a man standing in the middle of the road holding a pole or a pipe.

Mr Henderson said he asked the man if he had hit someone and the man shouted “white dog”.

“So I thought I must have hit a dog,” he said.

Mr Henderson was about to walk through the median strip and into Coodanup when a truck driver drove past and shouted a warning.

“He said don’t go up there,” Mr Henderson said.

It was after this that he realised it was a thrown object that had gone through his windscreen.

Mr Henderson got back into his car and drove to the nearby Mandurah Police station to make a report.

He believes his injuries would have been more serious if he had not been wearing a heavy fluoro work jacket.

The heavy hammer remains nestled between Mr Henderson’s seat and the car door.

Mr Henderson said the replacement cost of the windscreen is more than $500.

He has been living in Mandurah for more than 68 years and believes the crime rate is getting worse.

“They’re losing it,” he said.

Mandurah Police have a stark warning for people who throw objects at cars.

“It’s extremely dangerous to throw anything on the road,” Mandurah officer in charge Senior Sergeant Stephen Thompson said.

“Not only could it distract the driver, but it could injure the driver and endanger other road users as well.

Snr Sgt Thompson said there had been various stone throwing incidents around Mandurah, but nothing like this.

He is appealing for witnesses to the incident, especially the truck driver, to come forward.

Call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 with information.