STATE OF TASMANIA v WILLIAM CHARLES TAYLOR 21 APRIL 2026
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE JAGO J
William Taylor, you have been found guilty by a jury of dangerous driving. Because the only issue at trial was the identity of the driver of the vehicle, the facts largely follow from the verdict. In November 2023, you lived in a unit complex in Sheffield. Some time prior to 12 November 2023 a Mr Hayden Bramich had also lived in the unit complex. He had moved out some two to three months earlier. When he moved out, he was unable to transport his television, so he left it with you to look after until he was able to return and collect it.
On 12 November 2023, Mr Bramich travelled to the units. He was on a motorbike, so his attendance was not related to the collection of the television. Rather, I am satisfied he went there because he was having conflict with a Marcus Riley who was staying with you. There had been an angry exchange between the two of them by way of phone calls and electronic messages earlier in the day. I am satisfied that at some point during the afternoon you had told Mr Bramich not to come to the property and cause trouble. Mr Bramich arrived at the property, and you spoke to him. You asked him to wait in the street and told him that you would bring Mr Riley out to speak with him. That happened. There was a heated conversation between Mr Bramich and Mr Riley. I am satisfied that at one point you intervened in this confrontation and indicated that you did not want any fighting. After a period, Mr Bramich left the area. I am not satisfied that he told you that he would be returning to collect his television, but it seems that is what he decided to do. He sought the services of his brother, Mr Glensk, who had a Kia Rio motor vehicle, to return to the unit for the purpose of collecting the television.
At approximately 11.30 pm on 12 November 2023, Mr Bramich and Mr Glensk returned to your residence. In the car with them, was a 14 year old family friend. When the vehicle arrived Mr Bramich got out of the vehicle, but his brother did not do so immediately. There was a further altercation between Mr Bramich and at least some of the occupants of your unit. At one point, as the confrontation escalated, Mr Glensk exited his vehicle and yelled that his brother simply wanted his television back. You picked up a pole and advanced towards the vehicle. At this point Mr Glensk yelled at his brother to get back into the vehicle and they drove off, heading back through the town of Sheffield towards Devonport.
Shortly thereafter, I am satisfied, that you and at least your partner, Ms Smith got into a Holden Commodore that was parked at your residence and gave chase. It is not clear on the evidence whether Marcus Riley was also in the vehicle, but it matters not. As Mr Glensk was exiting the town boundary of Sheffield, and entering on to the open highway, he observed some car lights advancing on him quickly from behind. He had been travelling at about 60 kmph but increased his speed as he entered the open speed limit to approximately 80 to 100 kmph. You must have travelled at a reasonably quick, although not excessive speed, in order to catch up with his vehicle. As you approached the rear of his vehicle you had your headlights on high beam. Mr Glensk was travelling at about 100 kmph at this point and the road he was travelling on was quite windy in places. You tailgated the vehicle for a period before you rammed the back of the vehicle as they slowed for a corner. I am satisfied that you rammed the back of the vehicle on at least four occasions. Each was with sufficient force that it caused Mr Glensk’s head to impact with the back of his driver’s seat. Mr Glensk tried to accelerate away from you but given the road conditions could not. You then drove your vehicle on to the incorrect side of the road and pulled your vehicle up alongside the back end of Mr Glensk’s vehicle. You rammed your vehicle into the rear right-hand side of Mr Glensk’s vehicle on at least two occasions. Mr Glensk braked, and you pulled your vehicle back in behind his car and continued to tailgate him before once again pulling on to the incorrect side of the road and travelling alongside him. This time your vehicle was alongside Mr Glensk’s vehicle, and he observed you to be the driver and observed Ms Smith to be in the front passenger seat. He saw you raise your middle finger to him and make a gun like motion with your hand. As Mr Glensk slowed to negotiate a corner you again rammed his vehicle, this time in a side swipe motion which caused Mr Glensk to lose control of his vehicle, and he began to veer towards a power pole. Fortunately, Mr Glensk was able to regain control of his vehicle before he struck anything, and he was able to bring it back on to the roadway. You drove away at this point. Mr Glensk brought his car to a halt. The two tyres on the driver’s side of the vehicle had blown as a consequence of your vehicle striking his vehicle. Mr Glensk was able to nurse the vehicle to a nearby residence where he obtained some assistance. Subsequent inspection of the vehicle revealed considerable damage to the right rear of the vehicle and the right-hand side of the vehicle generally including the driver’s door. The right rear tyre was completely destroyed with the rim was exposed.
Your dangerous driving behaviour took place on a remote rural road which is quite windy in places, relatively narrow and has only limited gravel shoulders. Intentionally driving your vehicle into the rear of Mr Glensk’s vehicle and then driving alongside it and ramming it side on was an incredibly dangerous thing to do. On a narrow windy rural road, the risk that Mr Glensk would lose control and hit an object such as a power pole or a tree is very obvious. The risk of an occupant of the vehicle being critically, if not fatally, injured was very real.
I have received victim impact statements from both Mr Glensk and Mr Bramich. Each of them suffered physical injuries as a result of your conduct and also experience ongoing psychological consequences. I accept Mr Glensk sustained an injury to his back which remains extremely painful for him and he considers that it restricts his ability to return to work. He has been left feeling angry, apprehensive and has lost motivation. Mr Bramich sustained a back and knee injury which has also impacted on his ability to work. He needs extra breaks at work to accommodate his injuries. He has also experienced nightmares and flashbacks, feels apprehensive when driving, and is generally angrier and more anxious than before. In short, both men have been terribly affected by your driving behaviour. In my view the danger of your driving was heightened because you were in an angry state when this occurred. You were less likely to be thinking about the risks associated with your driving or exercising any sense of rationality or care. I am satisfied your focus was on scaring and intimidating the occupants of the Kia Rio because they had returned to your unit after you had asked Mr Bramich not to. Your conduct is also aggravated by the fact that you were not meant to be driving at all. You were disqualified from driving for a period of 10 months on 7 August 2023, so only three months prior to this incident occurring. This disqualification was imposed for an offence contrary to the Road Safety Alcohol and Drugs Act.
You are 23 years of age. You were 20, nearly 21, when this incident occurred. You have a substantial record of offending including many driving matters. You have been before the Youth Court since the age of 11. As a youth you committed many offences of dishonesty, bail offences, offences against police, drug offences, offences of violence and many driving offences including breaches of the Road Safety Alcohol and Drugs Act, driving contrary to licensing requirements, driving without due care and attention and being a driver involved in a crash and failing to stop. A review of your criminal record as a youth indicates that you were given many opportunities by way of rehabilitative sentencing orders. You breached many of them including breaching periods of suspended detention and probation orders. Eventually, you were sentenced to periods of actual detention, spending time in detention on several occasions. As an adult you have continued to commit driving offences including breaches of the Road Safety Alcohol and Drugs Act, driving whilst disqualified, driving contrary to licensing requirements, as well as committing bail offences, drug offences and offences against police.
I also note that since this crime was committed, you have committed further driving offences. On 15 April 2024, you were sentenced globally by the Magistrates Court for matters involving drive whilst disqualified, breaches of the Road Safety Alcohol and Drugs Act, stealing offences and matters of violence, to a three-month period of imprisonment, the execution of which was wholly suspended for two years. On the face of it, you breached that period of suspended imprisonment, because on 20 August 2025 you pleaded guilty to offences of drive whilst disqualified and drive a motor vehicle whist a prescribed illicit drug was present in your oral fluid. This crime occurred on 20 January 2025, some nine months into the two year period of suspension. For reasons which are not readily apparent to me, an order for deferral of sentence was made in respect to the January 2025 matters.
There is no doubt that you have experienced a very difficult upbringing. You were raised by a mother who was a drug addict. She died from a drug overdose when you were 10 years old. For a short time, you were able to live with your grandmother but by the age of 11 you were living in foster care. You went in and out of a variety of foster care placements. You had difficulty settling anywhere and your behaviour reflected that. You met a number of people who introduced you to criminal ways and by your teenage years you were regularly offending. At the age of 14 you were sent to a program in the Northern Territory called “Many Colours, One Direction”. You were there for six months. I am told that whilst you were there you were treated cruelly. It led to you running away from the program. When you were located you disclosed to authorities some of the behaviours to which you had been exposed. It led to the program being shut down. As noted, you have spent several periods in Ashely Detention Centre. You suffered abuse within that institution. You recently received a payout from the redress scheme because of some of your experiences in detention. In detention, you also met a number of people who encouraged you in your criminal ways which led to you committing further offences.
You are in a long-term relationship with Ms Smith. You have been together for approximately nine years and recently had your first child together in September 2024. Ms Smith suffers from a number of health conditions, and you act as her carer. I am told that over the past three years or so, you and Ms Smith have made a concerted effort to establish a more stable lifestyle. Obtaining permanent accommodation in Sheffield in late 2022 has assisted in that regard. Your desire to live a quiet existence and stay out of trouble has only increased with the birth of your child. I am told the birth of your child was both a joyous and difficult event for you. You struggled with a number of conflicting emotions stemming from the difficult childhood you had endured. It led to you seeking support from your general practitioner. A mental health plan was developed for you, and you have been referred to a psychologist. I have been provided with a report from your psychologist. It indicates that you commenced treatment in April 2025, and that you have been receptive and well engaged. You have shown a strong desire and motivation to understand and address past difficulties so that you might engage in more socially acceptable behaviours in the future. I am told that since you have been placed on remand, you have engaged with a psychologist in the hope of maintaining the improvements that you have recently made in terms of understanding your past difficulties.
I also take into account a support letter I have received from William Smith, Chief Executive Officer of an organisation which works intensively with high risk and vulnerable people in Tasmania. Mr Smith notes the significant difficulties you have encountered in trying to support yourself, Ms Smith and your now young child. He also notes that neither you nor Ms Smith have any extended family, parental support or close support networks. You have been largely left to navigate demands of adulthood almost entirely on your own. Mr Smith speaks to a number of positive qualities he has observed in you, including your loyalty and your kindness. He notes having observed your desire to build a better life for yourself and your partner and child.
Whilst I acknowledge the positive indications that exist within the material I have just referenced, it has to be balanced against the objective seriousness of your conduct and to some extent, the number of opportunities, by way of sentencing orders, that you have already been given that do not appear to have been successful in terms of encouraging your long term rehabilitation. Whilst in more recent times, there has been an abatement in terms of the regularity of your offending, the offending nevertheless continues, and in this instance, it was very serious offending.
To put it simply because you were angry with Mr Glensk and Mr Bramich, you chased them down and then used your vehicle as a weapon, ramming them from behind and from the side on several occasions. This was not a spontaneous or impetuous act of foolishness, rather it was a deliberate and persistent act calculated at creating fear. It would have taken you some time to catch up with them. You had time to reflect upon what you were doing and desist. The risk of them running off the road and crashing, and significant harm being caused to them, was very obvious. You paid no regard to that whatsoever. Once you had forced them from the road, you kept driving, not stopping to check on their safety. You have shown no insight into the seriousness of your conduct, nor demonstrated any preparedness to take responsibility for it. You are not entitled to the benefit of a plea of guilty. Your history of prior criminal offending, and your previous responses to sentencing orders, weighs against a lenient approach being adopted. Factors of general deterrence, specific deterrence and denunciation are prominent in the sentencing process. You and other like-minded individuals need to understand that driving behaviour of this nature will not be tolerated.
I was asked to consider the making of a home detention order because of the care role you undertake in respect to your partner. I have been provided with material which indicates that your partner does suffer from significant mental health conditions and an intellectual disability. Her needs are high, and I accept you perform an important caring role for her. You assist her with her daily living needs and also play a very significant role in the care of your young daughter. Ms Smith has provided a letter to the Court which indicates that since your remand in custody her mental health has declined, and she is struggling to cope with the demands of providing for her daughter as a single parent. I accept that you not being present in the family home will have a deleterious impact upon Ms Smith and potentially your daughter and knowing that you have let them down, and left them in this vulnerable position will make any time in custody more onerous for you because of constant feelings of stress and anxiety and concern as to how they are coping. Such an impact may, to a slight degree, moderate the sentencing factor of specific deterrence, but given your criminal history and your lack of insight into the serious nature of your offending, it remains a pertinent factor. And of course, you well understood the vulnerability of your partner when you choose to drive as you did. It now cannot be used justify undue leniency. I think, however, it does justify the imposition of a minimum non-parole period.
In my view there is no appropriate sentencing response, other than a period of imprisonment. William Charles Taylor you are convicted of the crime of dangerous driving and sentenced to imprisonment for a period of 20 months commencing on 26 March 2026. I order that you not be eligible for parole until you have served one half of that sentence of imprisonment.
You will be disqualified from driving for a period of two years and six months following your release from prison.
I make a compensation order in favour of Nathan Glensk and adjourn the assessment of that order sine die.