A Strahan man has been jailed after tying up a 17-year-old boy in a shipping container and pressing a running chainsaw against his neck during a dispute over stolen tools.
Wayne Michael Ludbey, 32, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault and was sentenced in the Supreme Court on August 21.
The court heard Ludbey believed the teenager had been stealing knives, boots and tools from his storage container.
On September 12, 2023, he spotted the boy walking along the Strahan Esplanade on the state’s West Coast and went after him.
Ludbey grabbed the teenager, shoved his head into a ute and forced him inside.
His brother Brady Ludbey jumped in to help and wrapped a seatbelt around the boy’s neck.
Ludbey drove the boy to his property, where he repeatedly kicked his legs out from under him before tying his hands and legs with a strap and zip ties.
He then revved a chainsaw and pressed the stationary chain against the boy’s neck.
Ludbey also hit him across the face and arm with a piece of wood, hosed him down and padlocked him inside the container.
At one point, he rang the boy’s dad and told him: “I want my stuff back or you’ll never see your son again.”
Justice Tamara Jago described the attack as “premeditated” and “vindictive”.
“Whilst I accept you may have believed that the complainant had stolen from you, that in no way justifies what you did,” she said.
“I am told you had reported the thefts to police. You needed to let the police investigation run its course. Instead, you set upon a plan to extract retribution.”
“Those who think it is appropriate to take the law into their own hands need to very clearly understand it is not.”
Ludbey was sentenced to 14 months behind bars, with the final 10 months suspended for two years. He was also ordered to pay compensation.
