Police car headbutted
A FATHER of seven’s chequered past came back to bite him after he was caught driving dangerously on one of the busiest nights of the year, leaving his freedom hanging in the balance.
With a criminal history spanning drugs and violence, Brenden Andrew Macdonald faced the prospect of jail time for the offences of dangerous operation of a vehicle while adversely affected, and wilful
damage of police property on December 31, 2020.
In his sentencing in Townsville Magistrates Court, Mac
Donald was told by Magistrate Ross Mack he was “fortunate” to have been caught committing “not the worst thing” in comparison with other offences on his criminal history.
The court heard Macdonald had been drinking at Flynns Irish Bar on New Year’s Eve when he’d left to avoid people who had “severely beaten” him two years before.
With his partner in the car, Macdonald drove on Bundock St at a “high speed”, swerving between lanes before hitting and mounting a kerb. MacDonald got out of the car to walk towards police when his car rolled backwards and forwards until his partner pulled the handbrake.
The court was told MacDonald later headbutted a police car and recorded a blood-alcohol content of .113.
Macdonald’s barrister Harvey Walters said his client had seven children, was employed, and had not been in “any trouble” for more than 13 months.
Mr Mack asked how one man could have seven children with five different women, to which Mr Walters said he was not sure if anyone had explained “how life is created” to MacDonald, but said he paid $80 per child each week in child support. In sentencing, Mr Mack said it was “difficult” to find something to commend Macdonald to the court due to his personal life and “violent” criminal history.
He said while the current offences did not involve violence, Macdonald “continued to resort to violence” and did not show promise of rehabilitation – having been coming to court since 2009.
He said Macdonald’s attitude towards the community was “appalling” and it was time to change his outlook on life.
For the dangerous operation charge Macdonald was sentenced to nine months’ jail, and two months for the wilful damage with an immediate parole release date. He will be off the roads for six months.