A 27-year-old man who twice drove stolen vehicles into oncoming traffic while trying to evade police – even continuing after his tyres were shredded – has been jailed for three years.
Patrick Lee Brown was sentenced in the Supreme Court of Tasmania after pleading guilty to two counts of dangerous driving, aggravated burglary, firearms theft and several related offences.
Justice Michael Brett said it was “incomprehensible that no one was injured or killed”.
The court heard Brown’s first offence took place on June 27, 2025, when police attempted to stop him in a stolen Mitsubishi Triton in Glenorchy.
He accelerated away along the Brooker Highway, weaving through traffic.
Police deployed a tyre spike, but Brown kept going on bare rims, at one point travelling the wrong way around a roundabout and narrowly avoiding a head-on collision with a truck.
He was eventually stopped at Melton Mowbray. After being released on bail, he reoffended less than three weeks later.
On August 20, police spotted him driving another stolen vehicle – this time a truck near Scottsdale – and again he refused to stop.
Later that evening, officers located the truck in Launceston’s northern suburbs after a lengthy search involving a helicopter, sparking an extended pursuit across the city.
Brown drove through red lights, went the wrong way up a highway off-ramp and continued against traffic in heavy conditions with limited visibility.
Several motorists were forced to take evasive action.
After eventually losing control and crashing into a roundabout, Brown locked himself inside the truck’s cab. Police used a baton to smash the window and arrest him.
He tested positive for methylamphetamine and amphetamine on both occasions.
The court also heard Brown acted as a lookout during a burglary in July 2024, while an older co-offender stole six firearms and ammunition worth $15,000.
Only one firearm has since been recovered.
Justice Brett acknowledged Brown’s difficult childhood, limited intellectual capacity and escalating substance abuse following his grandfather’s death, but said these issues did not reduce his responsibility.
“Your conduct in stealing the vehicles a day or two before each offence, stealing fuel and on one occasion stealing registration plates indicates a degree of premeditation,” he said.
“Your immediate decision to flee from police on more than one occasion during each episode and the persistence you demonstrated in your attempt to make good your escape from police is inconsistent with panic and decisions made spontaneously.”
Brown was jailed for three years, backdated to July, with parole eligibility after 18 months.
He also received a 12-month suspended sentence for the firearms offences and was disqualified from driving for five years.
