Andrew David Macmillan, 38, appeared in the Dunedin District Court this afternoon where Judge Emma Smith noted that, because of time served on remand, he would soon be released.
On November 21 last year, Macmillan was driving in Allanton-Waihola Rd, heading to Dunedin for surgery.
He passed the victim just before the Henley bridge and “pulled the fingers”, believing the trucker had earlier “brake checked” him.
When they both stopped at a red light for roadworks, Macmillan got out of his vehicle and yelled abuse at the man.
The court heard the defendant climbed up the side of the truck and punched the victim repeatedly in the head and body through the open window.
Macmillan returned to his vehicle and retrieved a silver extendable baton from his glovebox.
He later told police he had the weapon for “self-defence”.
The defendant struck the victim two or three times as he was getting out of the truck and a struggle ensued.
He eventually disarmed Macmillan, who sustained lacerations to his head and back during the tussle, a police summary noted.
But the attacker was not finished.
He again went back to his ute, this time grabbing a car jack.
He threw it at the windshield of the truck, smashing it, before reversing into the victim’s vehicle and fleeing the scene.
Macmillan called his Probation officer on the way to his medical appointment and arranged to turn himself in afterwards, the court heard.
He later told police the victim had threatened to kill him and that he was acting in self-defence but his subsequent guilty pleas - to charges of assault with a weapon, possessing a weapon, wilful damage and reckless driving - put paid to that version.
Despite that, the court heard the defendant had doubled down on his original explanation in a pre-sentence interview.
Counsel Meg Scally said the incident was underpinned by Macmillan’s post-traumatic stress disorder, which meant he was “always on guard”.
He carried the baton in his vehicle for that reason, the court heard.
Ms Scally said her client had been undertaking psychological sessions while in custody and was committed to therapy.
“If he could take back his actions, he would do that,” she said.
Judge Smith highlighted Macmillan’s nine pages of criminal history which encompassed violence, driving crimes and breaches of sentence.
He was serving a sentence of intensive supervision at the time of the road-rage incident, she stressed.
“You assault others relatively regularly and it doesn’t matter what sentence this court imposes on you. You’ve been imprisoned many times,” the judge said.
“Repeatedly you hurt this victim, repeatedly you made the decision to arm yourself and damage his [vehicle]. This wasn’t fleeting, it was at length."
Macmillan was also disqualified from driving for six months.
