A 60-year-old man who rammed a car in Glen Innes in an apparently random attack has avoided jail after asking the court for a second chance last year.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Anthony Hugh Golden trailed another car over a 20 kilometre stretch of road from Glencoe to Glen Innes on the night of September 20 last year, the Glen Innes Local Court heard, when Golden faced court in December.
Driving a gold Nissan, Golden dazzled the driver of a silver sedan with three close-range high beam spotlights, overtook and "harshly" brake-checked him.
The leading driver tried to get away.
As the cars entered Glen Innes, Golden rammed the sedan and pushed the vehicle along the road. The collision smashed the sedan's right rear light, inflicted dents in the boot door and rear panels - and, according to court documents, left the driver shaken and in fear for his safety.
READ MORE:
The former nurse gave the court no explanation for the crime; his lawyer described the offence as an act of spontaneous stupidity defying reason.
Magistrate Michael Holmes said he had thought hard about jailing Golden for the offence.
"This is your last chance," he said.
"I will have no hesitation sending you to jail."
Instead, the court levied $2000 worth of fines, plus a two year long community corrections order for driving with the intent to menace another person. He was also disqualified from driving for 12 months. His conviction was recorded.
"If you come back before me you won't be so fortunate," Magistrate Holmes said.
Golden's lawyer said his client, a former employee of a retirement home in Glen Innes, was suffering serious ongoing drug issues, but had not committed a violent offence in decades.
In an earlier raid of a house in Railway Street and a caravan in Ben Lomond police seized 194 grams of cannabis, an unregistered Diana model 24 air rifle, 886 rounds and five cannabis plants.