Joshua Dean Mathews, who chopped off his car’s roof and abused police, admits bashing woman to steal a child’s pram
A man who cut the roof off his Excel and abused police has now admitted bashing a woman while stealing a pram. His lawyer says he has “poor impulse control”.
Police & Courts
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A man who turned his car into a convertible and abused police “suffers from poor impulse control” and also admits bashing a woman to steal a pram, a court has heard.
On Monday, Joshua Dean Mathews asked the Adelaide Magistrates Court to obtain a report from the state’s prison system, about his prior jail stints, before sentencing him.
Con O’Neill, for Mathews, said his client wanted to confess to, and “bundle together” all of, his outstanding matters so his fate could be decided in a single, future hearing.
“The outstanding offences are all similar to those he’s already pleaded guilty to, and we’re asking for a pre-sentence report dealing with his issues,” he said.
“He suffers from depression and anxiety, anger management and poor impulse control, has been in jail before and under periods of supervision.
“There will be information about him there, in the prison system, that is not otherwise readily available.”
In July, Mathews, 25 of Elizabeth, pleaded guilty to failing to comply with a bail agreement, driving without a licence and failing to stop at red traffic lights.
He also pleaded guilty to breaching the state’s vehicle maintenance requirements.
The charges arose from an incident at Glenelg in May, when he verbally abused SA Police officers and ran a red light in his self-decapitated Hyundai Excel.
Outside court in July, Mathews made violent comments toward reporters and said he did not care about the consequences because “I’m already going to jail”.
On Monday, Mathews pleaded guilty to two more offences – one count of theft and one count of assault.
He admitted that, at Gepps Cross on April 21, he stole a pram from the Baby Bunting store and assaulted a woman in the process.
Mr O’Neill said Mathews had already pleaded guilty to eight other driving offences, separate from the convertible incident, leaving outstanding only one disqualified driving charge.
He said he “would not be cheeky” and seek a suspended sentence for Mathews’ crimes, but may ask for a home detention sentence if the report were favourable.
“He’s currently got a chance at a job, and he’s been out of work for a while,” he said.
Magistrate Simon Smart remanded Mathews on continuing bail to face court again in October.
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