A Queensland man who ran over his older brother with an SUV in a suburban street before chasing him with a knife has been jailed for at least 14 months.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 33-year-old from Loganlea, south of Brisbane, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty in Brisbane Supreme Court on Thursday to malicious act with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and threatening violence as domestic violence offences.
Crown prosecutor Amy Stannard said the defendant had previously taken out a domestic violence order against his brother that banned him from attending his home, which he shared with his mother.
On May 11, 2020, the man's mother, who has dementia, invited the brother over to celebrate Mother's Day and he was still there when the defendant returned from work.
"The defendant told his brother 'you have half an hour to get out of this place before I f***ing kill you'," Ms Stannard said.
Both men grabbed knives and attempted to stab each other through a security screen before the defendant was struck in the head, causing a 2.5 centimetre laceration to his temporal artery.
While the defendant tried to stop the bleeding with a tea towel, the brother left the house on foot and the defendant left in his mother's silver SUV, telling her he was driving to hospital.
The defendant instead tried to strike his brother with the vehicle five times.
Security camera vision played in court showed the defendant driving the SUV onto the footpath towards his brother before hitting him in the middle of the road.
The brother suffered a compound fracture to his left wrist, a fracture to his right wrist and deep bruising to his head.
The defendant got out of the SUV with a knife in hand and chased his brother before returning to the vehicle and repeatedly trying to chase the victim down before police arrived and instructed him to get on the ground at gunpoint.
Ms Stannard said judges in similar cases had said society could not tolerate the use of vehicles as weapons.
"The defendant was the instigator, he yelled at his brother and armed himself first with a knife," Ms Stannard said.
The defendant's barrister, Jack Kennedy, said his client had expressed shame and remorse.
"He was born in Australia of Samoan heritage and culturally his family means a great deal," Mr Kennedy said.
Mr Kennedy said the defendant chased his brother due to blind rage rather than vindictiveness.
"He accepts his behaviour was completely out of line despite being stabbed in the head," Mr Kennedy said.
Justice Thomas Bradley said the defendant had found himself in a difficult situation but had engaged in continuous and serious offending.
"You have taken significant steps to rehabilitate yourself and engaged with family and community organisations," Justice Bradley said.
He sentenced the defendant, who was at times audibly sobbing, to five-and-a-half years' imprisonment with a parole eligibility after 18 months but reduced by 116 days with time already served.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
Lifeline 13 11 14
Australian Associated Press
