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Photograph: Mick Tsikas/EPA     (helen-haines-alleged-attacker-brendan-nugent-charged-ntwnfb.html#img-1)   View image in fullscreen       Brendan Nugent has been charged after an alleged attack on Helen Haines outside her electorate office in Wangaratta in northern Victoria. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/EPA       (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/helen-haines) Helen Haines     Brendan Nugent facing three charges over alleged attack on MP Helen Haines   Victoria police arrested the 43-year-old Tarrawingee man on Monday afternoon after the incident in Wangaratta (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/oct/19/who-is-helen-haines-the-mp-allegedly-attacked-in-victoria-ntwnfb) Who is Helen Haines, the MP allegedly attacked in Victoria?   (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/oct/20/brendan-nugent-driver-alleged-attack-helen-haines-ntwnfb) Brendan Nugent’s family say Haines has been their friend for more than 20 years   Get our (https://www.theguardian.com/email-newsletters?CMP=cvau_sfl) new political email , (https://app.adjust.com/w4u7jx3) free app or (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/series/full-story?CMP=cvau_sfl) daily news podcast            (https://www.theguardian.com/profile/nino-bucci) Nino Bucci   Tue 20 Oct 2026 05.18 EDT  First published on Tue 20 Oct 2026 04.52 EDT   (mailto:?subject=Brendan Nugent facing three charges over alleged attack on MP Helen Haines&body=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/oct/20/helen-haines-alleged-attacker-brendan-nugent-charged-ntwnfb?CMP=share_btn_url) Share          (https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=theguardian.com) Prefer the Guardian on Google          Helen Haines’ alleged attacker, Brendan Nugent, has been charged with dangerous driving causing serious injury, intentionally cause serious injury and the commonwealth offence of causing harm to a commonwealth public official. He will be held overnight to appear at Wangaratta magistrates court on Wednesday, Victoria police confirmed in a statement, adding that it would be alleged the attack was targeted.  Victoria police arrested the 43-year-old Tarrawingee man on Monday afternoon after he allegedly struck the independent MP for Indi with a Toyota LandCruiser outside her electorate office in Wangaratta in northern (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/victoria) Victoria . Haines remains in a critical but stable condition after being airlifted to Melbourne’s Alfred hospital for emergency surgery. She has lost one leg and surgeons were fighting on Tuesday to save the other leg. Police also said in the statement released late on Tuesday that one of its highway patrol officers responded to the incident only eight seconds after emergency services were called. They confirmed that a search warrant had been executed that morning at Nugent’s Great Alpine Road property. “Victoria Police will continue to maintain an enhanced presence in Wangaratta, including members from the Public Order Response Team who have deployed to the area. (helen-haines-alleged-attacker-brendan-nugent-charged-ntwnfb.html#EmailSignup-skip-link-7) skip past newsletter promotion     Free newsletter | Every weekday    Sign up to Politics, really  Our political team brings you up to speed on the stories that really matter and what they mean for you  ()   Enter your email  ()   Sign up      after newsletter promotion   “At this stage it appears this is an isolated incident, and there are currently no other known threats connected to this matter.”         Explore more on these topics (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/helen-haines) Helen Haines  (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/victoria) Victoria  (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/australian-politics) Australian politics  (https://www.theguardian.com/tone/news) news    (mailto:?subject=Brendan Nugent facing three charges over alleged attack on MP Helen Haines&body=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/oct/20/helen-haines-alleged-attacker-brendan-nugent-charged-ntwnfb?CMP=share_btn_url) Share     (https://syndication.theguardian.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Faustralia-news%2F2026%2Foct%2F20%2Fhelen-haines-alleged-attacker-brendan-nugent-charged-ntwnfb&type=article&internalpagecode=australia-news/2026/oct/20/helen-haines-alleged-attacker-brendan-nugent-charged-ntwnfb) (Reuse this content) Reuse this content            More on this story                       More on this story                      (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/oct/20/helen-haines-mp-alleged-attack-wangaratta-surgery-ntwnfb)    ()      Helen Haines loses leg as surgeons fight to save the other after alleged attack in Wangaratta   (Tuesday, October 20, 2026 at 05:13 AM Eastern Daylight Time) 1h ago           (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/oct/20/brendan-nugent-driver-alleged-attack-helen-haines-ntwnfb)    ()      Brendan Nugent’s family say Helen Haines has been their friend for more than 20 years    (Tuesday, October 20, 2026 at 04:04 AM Eastern Daylight Time) 2h ago           (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/oct/20/helen-haines-wangaratta-community-grapples-with-the-unfathomable-ntwnfb)    ()      A chaotic few minutes and a beloved MP’s life in the balance: a community grapples with the unfathomable   (Tuesday, October 20, 2026 at 03:50 AM Eastern Daylight Time) 2h ago           (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/oct/19/helen-haines-alleged-attack-wangaratta-what-we-know-so-far-ntwnfb)    ()      Helen Haines is in a critical condition after an alleged attack. Here’s what we know so far   (Tuesday, October 20, 2026 at 01:34 AM Eastern Daylight Time) 5h ago           (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/oct/20/pauline-hanson-changes-one-nation-video-mocking-jacqui-lambie-prolapse-ntwnfb)    ()      Pauline Hanson concedes One Nation video mocking Jacqui Lambie’s prolapsed vagina needs to be changed   (Tuesday, October 20, 2026 at 01:49 AM Eastern Daylight Time) 4h ago           (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/oct/20/helen-haines-zoe-daniels-wangaratta-opinion-ntwnfb)    ()      double quotation mark   I knew one of us could get hurt eventually. I never thought it would be my friend Helen   (Monday, October 19, 2026 at 11:27 PM Eastern Daylight Time) 7h ago           (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/oct/20/i-dont-want-to-be-known-as-a-hero-barber-who-rushed-to-help-helen-haines-praised-by-pm-ntwnfb)    ()      ‘I don’t want to be known as a hero’: barber who rushed to help Helen Haines praised by PM   (Monday, October 19, 2026 at 09:49 PM Eastern Daylight Time) 8h ago           (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/oct/20/helen-haines-political-hate-speech-ntwnfb)    ()      double quotation mark   Political hate speech can have real-world fallout. After the alleged attack on Helen Haines, our leaders must act   (Monday, October 19, 2026 at 09:18 PM Eastern Daylight Time) 9h ago           (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/oct/20/helen-haines-was-chatting-with-locals-at-a-dog-park-on-monday-morning-by-the-afternoon-she-was-fighting-for-her-life-ntwnfb)    ()      Helen Haines was chatting with locals at a dog park on Monday morning. 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