Guilty plea for Molloy Island man Rodney Bienke in family siege drama

A 56-year-old Molloy Island man has admitted to pulling a gun on his family claiming he was fearing for his life after being attacked by his eldest son. Rodney Mark Beinke appeared in Bunbury Magistrate’s Court on Friday and pleaded guilty to being armed in a way that caused fear, two counts of possessing a firearm and ammunition without a licence and discharging a firearm to cause fear. The court was told Beinke had been drinking alcohol at his Molloy Island home with his wife and two sons on the evening of January 26 when he went to bed while his eldest son continued to listen to music and play video games. However, Beinke called his son to his bedroom to listen to how loud the noise was from the room and an argument ensued which soon turned physical allegedly at the hands of the son. It was understood the son had visited his family from Adelaide and had a background of violence towards other people, including an alleged incident where he attacked his boss and broke his hand. Beinke’s wife and youngest son entered the room to intervene, only for the eldest son to punch his way back into the room. The court was told Beinke grabbed a 12 gauge shotgun from under his bed, causing everyone to flee the property in fear while he pushed out a flyscreen and fired the gun into neighbouring trees. Beinke then held the firearm in the air on the front porch as his family drove away. The neighbouring home was less than 40m away and his two sons were 1m to 2m away when the shot was fired. In submissions, duty lawyer Gemma Horstman told the court Beinke was fearing for his life while he was being attacked by his son. Ms Horstman said the son was allegedly pressing his cast against his father’s throat while punching him in the head multiple times, allegedly fracturing Beinke’s eye socket. Police and the tactical response group were called to the property for a siege situation, which allegedly lasted for eight hours. While Beinke told the court he was never notified that police were at his house until a friend sent him a message and he tried returning a missed call from police, he claimed an officer could have knocked on the door. However, police prosecutor Sergeant Karl Rep told the court it was standard protocol not to knock on the front door during a siege where a firearm is involved as it could result in an officer being killed. Beinke also told the court he had received “nothing but support” from community members and the whole situation was “a storm in a teacup”. The sentencing was adjourned to tomorrow for the prosecution to find out more information about the alleged siege.