Hoon’s threat: ‘I’m going straight into that house’

With his pregnant girlfriend screaming for help in the back seat of his car, a drunk and angry Jamie Scott roared through the streets of Thames at speeds of up to 140kmh.

‘‘I’m going to f...ing kill you,’’ he yelled at her as he sped up Mackay St. Watch this ... I’m going straight into that house.’’

The house in his sights was 300 Grey St. True to his word, he flew over a concrete traffic island, through a wooden ‘‘one way’’ sign, and directly into the house.

It was the end of a short but terrifying ride for his passenger, unrestrained in the back seat, who had been pleading with Scott to stop and frantically texting a friend in a bid to get help.

She suffered a broken leg in the impact and bruising to much of her body, and had to be cut out of the car. At the time – November 24 last year – she was 15 weeks pregnant. It is not known whether the crash caused any lasting damage to her unborn child.

The smash also landed Scott in hospital with multiple injuries including a broken arm, cheek and jaw. A blood test taken soon after his admission recorded that he had 131 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, well above the legal driving limit of 50 millilitres.

As soon as he was well enough to be discharged from hospital, Scott was arrested and charged by the police.

In the Hamilton District Court on Monday, the 18-year-old was jailed for three years and seven months on charges including wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, dangerous driving, driving with excess blood alcohol, contravening a protection order and driving while unlicensed.

The details of Scott’s deathdefying jaunt were revealed by Judge Kim Saunders during his sentencing.

He had been drinking at Punter’s Sports Bar in Pollen St when, around 10.30pm his partner arrived. She hopped into the car to wait for him.

Scott presently emerged from the pub with a friend. He was not pleased to see the woman and the pair began arguing.

Scott dropped his friend off at the Imperial Hotel. Then events took a sinister turn.

He locked all the doors, preventing his partner from hopping out of the little car.

Then he hit the accelerator, taking her for a wild ride through the town’s streets.

‘‘Let me out of this car – help me, help me,’’ she screamed.

She began texting a friend: ‘‘F .... Help, I’m scared. OMG’’ she wrote.

The friend rang her. Scott’s girlfriend answered, but did not speak directly to the person on the end of the line. Instead, the woman’s cries for help, Scott’s threats and then the crash itself could be heard.

‘‘This was the use of a car as a weapon,’’ noted Judge Saunders during sentencing.

‘‘There could have been far more serious charges and far more serious consequences.’’

Scott’s counsel Thomas Sutcliffe urged her to take heed of his client’s young age, early guilty plea, and the fact he had completed an anger management course while in prison.

‘‘Obviously his actions were influenced by alcohol ... clearly this was an irrational response to what happened on that particular night.’’

Crown prosecutor Tini Clark said Scott had a history of violence against his partner.

In December 2016 he was sentenced to five months of home detention on charges including assault with intent to injure, threatening to kill and wilful damage.

‘‘This isn’t the first time the defendant has behaved in a similar way against this complainant, but it is the worst time.’’

Despite their tumultuous history, the woman was very forgiving of him, the judge said.

‘‘She continues to support you. She believes you will be able to live together as a family once you are released from prison.’’

Judge Saunders agreed with Sutcliffe that Scott’s latest violence was spontaneous rather than premeditated, but because of his past convictions she could not afford him the usual discounts off jail time given to younger offenders.

From a start point of five years imprisonment on the wounding charge, the judge added nine months in recognition of the other charges, and a further three months for his prior convictions, but then subtracted six months on the principle of totality.

A 25 per cent discount for his guilty plea and then 10 per cent off for youth and expressions of remorse brought an end sentence of three years and seven months.

Scott was also disqualified from driving for 12 months.

Judge Saunders did not order him to pay reparation to the owners of the home he crashed into – who had also been hit by a $2000 insurance excess shortfall – as he had no means of attaining such money while in jail.