Two Hobart men have appeared in the Supreme Court for carrying out a violent assault on a taxi driver, his wife and their young daughter.
The incident occurred in August 2020 after Travis Anthony Mortyn and Tyron James Page, both 28, along with a third man and a woman, failed to pay the full fare for two separate taxi trips.
Justice Stephen Estcourt said the group had first been driven to Clarendon Vale to purchase drugs before being taken to New Town on the false promise of paying both fares.
Later that night, one of the men called the driver, claiming he had left his phone in the taxi. The driver told the man it could be collected from his New Town home.
“When the same group arrived and the complainant answered the door, one of the three men pushed him against a wall and then all three punched him and kicked him when he was on the ground,” Estcourt said.
“A member, or members, of the group then punched the complainant’s wife and grabbed and threw the couple’s three year old daughter.”
The victims, who are Indian immigrants, sustained moderately severe injuries and were left traumatised by the attack, Estcourt said.
Their young child was physically unharmed.
“The [driver] was unable to return to taxi driving and lost income for some weeks while he looked for other work. [His partner] no longer is able to feel safe and her daughter, who is now seven, is still scared that her father or her mother will be hurt by random people.”
Justice Estcourt noted both Mortyn’s and Page’s prior convictions for serious violent crimes.
He sentenced Mortyn to 18 months in prison, backdated to August 28, 2023, but suspended from May 28, 2024, on the condition he commit no offense punishable by imprisonment for 12 months.
The court will determine Page’s sentence after reviewing a pre-sentence report for home detention and community service.
