A young Hobart man who helped violently carjack an acquaintance at knifepoint has avoided prison, after a judge found his rehabilitation since the attack warranted leniency.
James Laurence Bannister, now 21, was sentenced to nine months’ home detention after pleading guilty to aggravated carjacking and assault over the July 2022 incident in Claremont.
The Supreme Court heard Bannister and co-accused Jamie Paul Wilmott, then 33, lured their 50-year-old victim under the pretence of needing a lift.
When the man stopped to help, Bannister ambushed him – opening the car door and punching him in the face.
Both men then kicked and beat the victim as he fell to the ground, trying to defend himself.
When he attempted to flee, Wilmott pressed a knife to his throat and said words to the effect of: “I’ve got a knife to your neck, don’t try and struggle.”
The pair forced the victim back into the vehicle and drove him around Hobart’s northern suburbs for several hours, before he managed to escape by leaping from the moving car in Lutana.
The man suffered a fractured rib, lung contusion, two broken fingers and facial lacerations that required two days in hospital.
The stolen Mazda was found completely destroyed by fire the following day.
Justice Stephen Estcourt said carjacking was becoming “far too prevalent” and remained a serious crime against both person and property.
However, he said Bannister’s personal circumstances – including his age at the time and efforts to turn his life around – justified a sentence short of imprisonment.
The court heard Bannister, who was 18 at the time, had struggled with methamphetamine addiction following his father’s death when he was 12.
Since his arrest, he has completed Year 12, become a father, maintained drug abstinence and gained trade qualifications.
“I am very significantly influenced by this,” Justice Estcourt said.
Bannister has not offended since November 2023 and has secured a mining job in Western Australia.
The home detention order includes electronic monitoring, a nightly curfew and mandatory drug testing.
