Halls Creek tow truck driver receives 10-month suspended sentence for driving at youths

A Halls Creek tow truck driver who drove onto a footpath at youths forcing them to leap over a fence to safety has received a 10-month suspended prison sentence.

Peter Reading received a 10-month prison sentence suspended for one year after pleading guilty to endangering the life, health and safety of a person on the Great Northern Highway on March 12 last year.

Halls Creek Magistrates Court was previously shown CCTV footage of ute, driven by Mr Reading, mounting the footpath at Lot 68 of the highway and driving at a group of young males standing at a corner who then jump to safety.

Reading had previously entered a not guilty plea to the charge, however on December 22 when he was due to stand trial he changed his plea to guilty.

His sentencing was adjourned to January 18 when Magistrate Michelle Ridley handed down the suspended sentence.

The maximum penalty for endangering the life, health and safety of a person is five years imprisonment with a summary conviction penalty of two years or a fine of $8000.

Outside of court and prior to sentencing, Reading said that in the months leading up to the incident his business, Halls Creek Toyota, had been ram raided, set on fire, regularly burgled and his cars taken on frequent joy rides.

He said on that afternoon he, “saw red,” when a group of four boys laughed, pointed and jeered at him.

“I won’t deny I was driving the car but they have to understand why I did it. We are being constantly hounded, robbed, we have sleepless nights, the dogs are scared, they cut chains with bolt cutters and steal my motorbikes,” he said.

Reading acknowledged that he did not recognise the boys that he drove as the same ones who were responsible for the attacks and thefts from his business.