STATE OF TASMANIA v DION PAUL WOLF 31 JANUARY 2024
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BLOW CJ
Mr Wolf has pleaded guilty to a charge of assault. On 1 March 2022 he assaulted a man named Schneider by driving his vehicle into him from behind, causing him to be thrown up onto the bonnet and then to fall onto the ground.
This was a road rage incident that started in the drive-through lane of a take-away food establishment in Glenorchy. Mr Schneider was driving a vehicle, and Mr Wolf was driving the vehicle behind him. Rightly or wrongly, Mr Wolf became angry with Mr Schneider and started blowing his horn. Both men received their food and drove out onto Kensington Street, with Mr Wolf following Mr Schneider and continuing to sound his horn. Mr Schneider stopped. Mr Wolf stopped behind him. Mr Schneider got out of his vehicle and walked back to Mr Wolf’s vehicle. The two men spoke unpleasantly to one another. Mr Schneider was so angry that he smashed the driver’s side mirror of Mr Wolf’s vehicle. He then started walking back to his vehicle. Mr Wolf reversed briefly, pulled out from the kerb, accelerated towards Mr Schneider, and drove into him from behind. As I have said, he was thrown onto the bonnet. He then landed on the road on the other side of the street. Fortunately there was no oncoming traffic. Mr Wolf stopped his vehicle, yelled at Mr Schneider, and then drove off. The whole incident was filmed by a dash-cam in a third car whose driver stopped behind Mr Wolf.
Mr Schneider was taken to hospital by ambulance. Arrangements were made for his right forearm and lumbar spine to be x-rayed the followed day. He did not provide a victim impact statement. He complained of soreness to his hips, legs and arms on the day. As far as I know he did not suffer any serious injuries. That was very fortunate. If he had hit his head on the road, Mr Wolf could very well be facing a manslaughter charge.
Mr Wolf was 35 years old on the day in question and is now 37. He has some minor prior convictions, including convictions in 2015 for assaulting, resisting and threatening a police officer, and drink driving convictions in 2015 and 2016. This is the only charge that he has faced in any court since 2016.
Mr Wolf was in a fragile emotional state on the day in question because of a previous road rage incident in which he was the victim. On that earlier occasion he was driving his vehicle when another vehicle rammed him from behind on several occasions, to the point of making him lose control. The aggressor on that occasion also pointed a firearm at him. Since that earlier incident, Mr Wolf has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, with high levels of anxiety, hypervigilance, and panic episodes.
After the incident involving Mr Schneider, Mr Wolf was very concerned about the way he had reacted. He went to the Glenorchy Police Station voluntarily within about 30 minutes after the incident, was cautioned, and made substantial admissions which were recorded using a body worn camera. He pleaded guilty at a very late stage, after the case had been prepared for trial, but following a change of counsel.
After this incident he sought professional help. He has seen the psychologist who provided the report on about 12 occasions. That psychologist has provided counselling and provided him with some coping strategies. Another professional has prescribed medication for him.
He is single, childless, unemployed, and dependent on Centrelink benefits. He has a reasonable work history, having worked as a security guard, at a service station, and in a fencing business. He had to give up work as a security guard because of a heart attack. He has a number of medical conditions that impair his capacity for work, including emphysema and other respiratory conditions, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. He has had a drinking problem, but has abstained from alcohol for the last few weeks and is now attending the Salvation Army Bridge Program. He has been using cannabis for about 6 years, but is taking steps to address his drug use as well as his alcohol use.
This was a very serious assault. It involved using a utility as a weapon to attack a defenceless pedestrian from behind. It was the sort of crime that ordinarily results in imprisonment. However, because of Mr Wolf’s remorse, his psychological difficulties, the steps that he has taken to address those difficulties, and the very fortunate lack of serious injuries, I do not think it would be fair to send him to prison.
Mr Wolf has been assessed as unsuitable for court-ordered community service because of his physical and mental health problems. He has also been assessed as unsuitable for a home detention order because of his mental health problems. It is likely that home detention would be too restrictive, onerous and isolating for him. The only appropriate course is for me to impose a wholly suspended sentence of imprisonment and make a community correction order.
Dion Paul Wolf, I convict you and sentence you to 6 months’ imprisonment, wholly suspended on condition that you must not commit another offence punishable by imprisonment for two years. I make a community correction order, to operate for 12 months from today, with special conditions that during that period (a) you must submit to the supervision of a probation officer as required by the probation officer; (b) you must attend any programs that a probation officer directs you to attend; (c) you must undergo assessment and treatment for alcohol and/or drug dependency as directed by a probation officer; (d) you must submit to testing for drug and/or alcohol use as directed by a probation officer; and (e) you must submit to medical, psychological or psychiatric assessment or treatment as directed by a probation officer.