A Launceston man who chased another driver through Hobart’s northern suburbs in a fit of road rage while on a suspended licence has been jailed.
Gavrilo Asentic, 52, was sentenced in the Supreme Court of Tasmania this month after pleading guilty to dangerous driving and driving with illicit drugs in his blood.
The pursuit happened on November 11, 2023, after a minor collision at a Moonah intersection, where Asentic wrongly believed he had right of way.
He then chased the other driver’s ute for about six and a half kilometres through Moonah and Derwent Park.
The driver was travelling with his partner. Asentic’s partner was a passenger in his car.
Justice Kate Cuthbertson said the chase reached speeds estimated at 100km/h in 50km/h zones, with Asentic at times driving a metre behind the ute and nudging it.
The pursuit ended when Asentic’s car struck the ute, sending it into a sideways slide of about 78.5 metres before it crashed into a sign, a fence and steel railway tracks being used as bollards.
Asentic got out and yelled words to the effect of: ‘Sucked in, c–t. You think you’re so funny. The cops are going to get ya.’
He then drove off, but later attended the Launceston Police Station and admitted to police he was “just a hot head”.
The driver and his partner suffered minor injuries.
The driver lost his ute, which cost him $15,000, while his partner reported ongoing anxiety, insomnia and nightmares.
Justice Cuthbertson described the offending as “an act of pure and simple aggression”.
“You are someone with a history of poor driving and aggressive conduct,” she said.
“You should not have been driving at all given the drugs you consumed. It is not, however, suggested that the drugs in your system were relevant to your dangerous manner of driving.”
The court heard Asentic’s licence had been suspended at the time, but he denied knowing about the disqualification and prosecutors could not prove he had been served with the notice.
Justice Cuthbertson sentenced Asentic to 18 months imprisonment, backdated to May 15, with parole eligibility after nine months.
He was disqualified from driving for two and a half years, plus a further six months for the drug-driving charge and ordered to pay compensation to the victim.
