A man who “boxed in” a car in Peel Street in the middle of the night in April, terrifying a woman and children, appeared in Ballarat court this week.
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Matthew Cairns, 26, of Lal Lal, pleaded guilty to several offences in the Ballarat Magistrate’s Court this week.
The court heard that at 12.15am on 8 April, a woman was driving her BMW along Peel Street when the accused “drove at speed” alongside and swerved his vehicle to stop in front of the victim. The accused’s associates then drove next to the BMW until they had effectively “boxed in” the vehicle which came to stop at the traffic lights.
Police prosecutor Senior Constable Steve Kent told the court the accused then got out of his car, walked up to the victim’s window and began yelling at her.
The woman, who had two children in the back seat, wound down her window to talk to the accused who was asking about the whereabouts of another man.
Senior Constable Kent said the woman told Cairns she did not know anything about the man, but he then reached in through the window, grabbed the keys and threw them across the road, causing the children to “scream in fear.”
Defence lawyer Tim Tyler conceded there was no doubt it had been an “unsavoury incident” but said his client had taken the BMW driver’s keys because the woman had told him to, “move his car or she would drive into it.”
Mr Tyler said Cairns had been experiencing mental health issues, but had moved back to live at his parents’ home and was now on a mental health care plan.
“He has previously completed a Community Corrections Order (CCO) and the risk of this anti-social offending occurring again is low,” Mr Tyler said.
Magistrate Gregory Robinson told Cairns it was “truly shocking that you behave like this in a public space.”
Cairns was placed on a 12-month CCO and ordered to perform 100 hours of unpaid community service.