Road rage rampage ends in ride to jail

A NEW father has been told by a magistrate he should be ashamed after he went on a drunken road rage rampage around Townsville.

Tyrone James Allan Cao, 33, was driving on Port Access Road when he tailgated a woman, 28, driving a Hyundai on February 26 this year.

The court heard Cao would speed up behind the woman and then put on his brakes, screeching his tyres and would blow his horn.

Police prosecutor Tim Madsen told the court Cao’s driving was “deliberate”.

“The driving was so significant towards her that she pulls over and he then pulls his vehicle over and just stares at her,” he said.

Mr Madsen said the woman drove to the Townsville City Police Headquarters and pulled into the carpark.

The court heard Cao continued driving past the police station to a dirt car park between Taiping Chinese Restaurant and Superwash on Sturt Street where he did burnouts with one tyre blown out.

After police found Cao at the car park, he returned a roadside breath test of .228 and was found to be in possession of 1g of cannabis, with police observing a beer on the passenger seat.

The court heard on June 9 this year Cao was at the Townsville City Mcdonald’s where he abused the staff, telling them, “I’m gonna drop all of you, I’m gonna push your face into the grill”.

Cao pleaded guilty to four charges including dangerous operation of a vehicle and adversely affected by an intoxicating substance. The court heard Cao had two previous drink-driving charges on his criminal history.

Defence lawyer Sarah Belford told the court her client had an addiction to alcohol and had become a father for the first time on January 29.

“Her birth was not without problems and he has dealt with the medical issues of his daughter how he has previously dealt with his problems by turning to alcohol,” he said.

Acting magistrate Peter Smid told Ms Belford he was unimpressed with the new father’s “exhibition of road rage”.

“So the baby is a fortnight old and he is on the road ... plastered ... something wrong there,” he said.

Mr Smid told Cao he should be “ashamed” of his “nasty” behaviour.

“Your driving, which was dangerous, was deliberately aimed at a helpless woman who was driving a small motor vehicle,” he said.

Cao was sentenced to 18 months’ jail with a parole release date on November 13 this year. He was disqualified from driving for three y years.