Pensioner Leif Hughes, 37, who has now spent 133 days in custody, appeared in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to face a string of charges.
Hughes pleaded guilty to reckless conduct endangering serious injury, criminal damage, unlicensed driving, breaching a bail condition and committing an indictable offence while on bail in relation to the incident on November 24 last year.
The court heard Hughes drove into James Ct, Benalla, with his two sons, parked outside a house and tooted the vehicle's horn.
He was immediately confronted by a group of people, including the victim, a man he later told police was an “up and coming crackhead or gangster” with whom he had a beef.
The court heard the victim and the accused argued in the middle of the road before the victim used a fold-up chair to smash the rear windscreen of Hughes's car while his two sons were inside.
Hughes then picked up and swung a scooter at the victim who continued to fight with the chair.
The court heard Hughes got back in the vehicle, reversed, and then accelerated at the victim leaving skid marks on the road surface. The victim jumped over the bonnet but was struck and the car crashed into the kerb.
Despite damage to the vehicle, Hughes then drove onto the front lawn of another house, forcing people to jump out of the way. He then stalked the victim, driving around in a circle six times spinning his tyres, coming close enough that a bystander hit the car with a baseball bat while others threw objects in an attempt to stop him.
Hughes was intercepted by police nearby and arrested.
His lawyer Manny Brennan said it was a “foolish and dangerous decision that placed others in danger” but his client was confronted with an angry mob, many of whom were armed.
“His back window had been smashed with his children in the car, you can well understand the panic he was feeling,” Mr Brennan said.
Hughes also pleaded guilty to separate charges of drug possession, traffic offences and a series of petrol drive-offs.
There was one matter unresolved relating to the alleged sale of an imitation firearm.
Despite being angry at being sold a replica rather than the real handgun he'd expected, the victim had refused to make a statement and police faced a 12-month process involving FBI warrants to link Hughes to the messenger account used by the seller.
The name used in the messenger account was Harry Douglas Hughes, not Leif Hughes, and without further corroborating evidence Magistrate David Faram said the prosecution was “a long way short” of proving its case.
Mr Brennan said his client sought a global sentence indication including the firearms charges given the likely delays in it proceeding.
Mr Brennan said given his client's time in custody there was an “unusual utility” in requesting a sentence indication even with the apparent weakness on the prosecution case. He also said his client faced difficulty in custody due to compromised treatment of his multiple sclerosis.
Magistrate Faram agreed with the defence that a term of imprisonment combined with a community-based order would be appropriate and he asked that an assessment of suitability be prepared.
