ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
A well-known figure in Betoota’s fabled Old City District has today reaffirmed that he is completely fine with the nickname he’s been saddled with for nearly thirty years, despite it being directly linked to one of the area’s more unsettling crimes.
Craig Hibbens, a semi-retired electrician and long-time regular at the Royal Commercial Railway Hotel, says he’s got no issue with being called “Donnie” by just about everyone in town.
“It’s just a pub name. Everyone’s got one,” said Craig.
But locals know the nickname’s origins aren’t quite so fine.
Back in the mid-90s, the Old City District was briefly home to a notorious flasher who became known as Donald Duck after several late-night sightings in the sandstone laneways. Witnesses said the man wore a blue shirt with a red bowtie, a blue beret and a balaclava, but no pants, hence the name.
Craig was never arrested, charged or even properly suspected. But after turning up to the pub one night in a trench coat and accidentally revealing a bit too much while reaching for his wallet, the nickname stuck fast.
“I wasn’t even in town that weekend. I’d gone up to Charleville for something or other,” said Craig.
“But someone reckoned I looked like the composite sketch and it was all over from there. I even offered to get my cock out for the police to show it couldn’t have been me, but they refused,” said Craig.
Now in his fifties, Craig says the name doesn’t bother him. He insists he’s leaned into it.
“It’s better than being called the Sentient Beanbag like Mike is or Colin the Colon,” said Craig.
Asked if he’s ever thought about shaking the nickname and going back to just being Craig, he shook his head.
“Wouldn’t feel right, mate,” said Craig.
“I’ve been Donnie longer than I’ve been married. I mean, it’s pretty funny. Like, what kind of bloke gets off on being a flasher? Weird.”
More to come.
