A Launceston man who drove at 90km/h in a 60 zone, ran red lights and overtook on a blind hill crest while trying to evade police days after assaulting his partner in the street has been jailed.
Leonard Riley, 34, was sentenced in the Supreme Court of Tasmania on April 16 for dangerous driving, assault and related offences.
The court heard Riley assaulted his partner on November 21, 2024, after she refused to get into a car with him.
He punched her repeatedly, fracturing a rib and causing a pneumothorax.
Riley then drove alongside her, grabbed her by the hair and struck her head against the side of the car. When police arrived, he drove off.
Four days later, an officer in an unmarked police car spotted Riley and tried to intercept him.
Riley failed to stop when lights and sirens were activated and drove dangerously through busy Launceston streets, the court heard.
He ran red lights at two intersections, drove on the wrong side of the road across the Tamar Street Bridge and reversed away from road spikes police had set up to stop him.
Officers twice stopped pursuing him because his driving was too dangerous. Several drivers were forced to swerve to avoid a collision.
Justice Michael Brett said Riley was trying to avoid being arrested for the assault.
“It is obvious that your motivation to drive in this manner was to escape apprehension, which must have arisen from your knowledge of the serious crime you had committed four days earlier,” Justice Brett said.
“You showed complete disregard for the safety of other road users.”
“The consequences of your driving could easily have been catastrophic.”
Justice Brett described the assault as a “brutal act of family violence”.
The court heard Riley has 10 prior convictions for evading police and nine for driving while disqualified. He was disqualified at the time of the offending.
Justice Brett jailed Riley for four years and four months, with a non-parole period of 32 months.
He also declared Riley a serial family violence perpetrator for five years.
The judge acknowledged Riley’s difficult childhood, including exposure to violence and drugs by his father, as well as abuse he suffered in Ashley Youth Detention Centre.
Riley will be eligible for parole in March 2028.
If you or someone you know is experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, domestic, family or sexual violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732.
