A drunk Hobart man has been sentenced after attempting to run down two pedestrians and their dog in a fit of rage.
29-year-old Nickolas Luke William Pedder was sentenced in the Hobart Supreme Court on Thursday for a series of offences he committed while driving under the influence of alcohol.
He pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including assault, cruelty to animals and traffic violations.
The incident occurred on March 3 2022 when Pedder, while drunk, verbally abused pedestrians passing by his Claremont house, yelling out “What are you looking at c***?” and “Long haired f*****”.
He then chased them with his car, repeatedly driving onto the sidewalk and forcing them to jump out of the way.
He even targeted their dog, which avoided contact by ducking and laying low on the road.
Pedder eventually hit one of the pedestrians and drove away without stopping.
He pleaded guilty to six counts of assault and one count of cruelty to animals.
During the trial, Chief Justice Alan Blow recognised that Pedder admitted his guilt but stressed the seriousness of using a car as a weapon.
“I accept that he intended only to scare the men. However, when a motor vehicle is used as a weapon, it is a potentially deadly weapon, and in this case it was in the hands of a man who was intoxicated and irresponsible,” Chief Justice Blow said.
“Much greater harm could have been done.”
In addition to these charges, Pedder also faced unrelated charges of dangerous driving and evading the police.
These incidents occurred on May 31 2022, where he was caught driving through Hobart at very high speeds, running red lights and driving on the wrong side of the road.
His blood-alcohol content was measured at 0.121% during these incidents.
Pedder was sentenced to eight months of home detention, a 12-month community correction order, a two-month suspended jail sentence and a three-year driving ban.
The two-month suspended jail sentence was imposed for the charge of evading the police, while the driving ban applies to all charges.
