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Revealed: The loving father who became a child killer

Greg Anderson bailed despite fears he could murder his family
• Killer dad should have been in custody, police say

• ‘Unbelievably brave’: Tributes flow in for grieving mum
• Rosie Batty speaks of her ‘shock’ and ‘disbelief’

With a smile on his face, Greg Anderson holds his baby son Luke in his arms and feeds him a bottle.

The bearded and bespectacled Anderson, in a photo shown on the Seven Network on Saturday, looks like any loving father as stares down at his son.

The photo, which could be from any family collection, gives no hint of what would happen 11 years later.

On Wednesday, Anderson killed Luke during cricket training on an oval near Melbourne.

He was then shot dead by police.

The shooting came after a history of domestic violence involving Anderson.

A Victorian magistrate had granted him bail in June, despite police fears he would kill his family.

The Frankston magistrate was told police feared Anderson was capable of carrying out threats he made to kill his family, the Herald Sun reported.

“Genuine concerns are held by police as the accused appears more than capable of carrying out the threats to kill,” the officer reportedly said.

But Luke’s mother Rosie Batty does not blame the magistrate.

“She was really quite concerned, the decision she made I agreed with totally,” she told the Seven Network.

Ms Batty hopes the tragedy will raise awareness about domestic violence.

“I guess that’s what I’m trying to do here, is somehow, in some way make some kind of change within everybody,” she said.

Ms Batty’s father Geoff Batty has arrived in Melbourne to support her.

“We knew part of the history of Greg and we wondered if Luke had tried to protect his mother,” he said.

Ms Batty has promised the funeral for Luke will be as inclusive as possible.

There are also plans by Luke’s cricket and football clubs and his school to hold an event in his memory at the oval where he died.

 

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