A young Tasmanian man who chased NBN contractors with a revving chainsaw after his stepmother falsely told him they were attacking his father has been jailed.
Jordan John George, 20, was sentenced in the Supreme Court this month after pleading guilty to being unlawfully armed in public.
Supreme Court Justice Michael Brett ordered George to serve three months and one day in prison, with the balance of an eight-month sentence suspended for 18 months.
The court heard the incident happened just after 9am on November 8, 2024, when contractors were working on the footpath outside the home George shared with his father.
George’s father had become abusive towards the workers, yelling at them from inside the house.
George was asleep when the argument began but was woken by his stepmother, who told him someone was trying to attack his father and instructed him to grab a saw to help.
He started a chainsaw and ran outside revving it loudly, chasing the terrified contractors as they fled in their vehicles.
He chopped the mudflap of one truck as it drove away.
Brett said the contractors had done nothing to deserve the threat.
“They did not deserve this, they were simply doing their job and, from what I have been told, had agreed to help your father out with some excess soil,” he said.
“The use of a weapon to create this kind of disturbance and threat is completely unacceptable.”
The court heard George receives NDIS support for impaired intellectual capacity, early-onset ADHD and autism.
He also has problems with alcohol and methamphetamine.
Brett said George’s father had been a “poor role model” who encouraged criminal behaviour, but George still bore responsibility for his actions.
The judge rejected home detention as an option, citing George’s poor compliance with previous community-based orders and his failure to attend court for sentencing, which led to a warrant being issued for his arrest.
George must complete 18 months of probation after his release, including the EQUIPS addiction and aggression programs.
The chainsaw, valued at $50, was forfeited to the state.
