Ipswich man Dean Ryan Dobson lies to police after ‘abhorrent’ road rage assault

An Ipswich man has received a jail sentence for his horrific five-punch attack on another driver.

Ipswich dad Dean Ryan Dobson.

A magistrate has reprimanded an Ipswich father for lying to police to “cover up [his] own abhorrent actions” after he punched another driver five times over a perceived slight on the road.

Booval removalist Dean Ryan Dobson, 28, pleaded guilty in Ipswich Magistrates Court on October 18 to one count of assault occasioning bodily harm.

The court heard that on 31 March, 2020, Dobson was on his way home from work in a truck with two others.

When passing through Yeronga, Dobson had an altercation with another driver, and he gestured for them to pull over.

The other driver turned off onto Fairfield road, and Dobson stopped next to them and approached the driver side window.

He punched the other driver five times in the face, while another person allegedly pulled an Esky from the passenger side and threw it onto the road.

The court heard the victim suffered bruising and swelling around the eyes and ears.

A witness took photos at the scene, and police were able to identify Dobson as the owner of the truck.

Magistrate Kathleen Payne said the police tried to contact Dobson “on a very regular basis” throughout March to August 2020, but Dobson “made no attempts to respond”.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Bridie O’Shea said “by all accounts, the defendant was actively avoiding police – hence the delay in charging”.

When he was eventually interviewed by police, Dobson told them he was a passenger in the truck and had engaged in a verbal altercation that was instigated by the victim.

He said the victim had cut them off, and he denied involvement in any physical altercation.

After the police showed him the witness’ photos, however, Dobson refused to answer any further questions.

Ms Payne told Dobson that this “speaks volumes of your character, as an adult man in the community, that you would lie to cover up your own abhorrent actions”.

The court heard Dobson was sentenced in November 2021 for more recent offending, in which he headbutted and punched a man at Jets Leagues Club Ipswich.

Defence lawyer Matthew Fairclough said Dobson was issued a suspended sentence for that offence, and said the operational period of that sentence will end in the coming weeks.

He conceded Dobson “could well have received a term of actual imprisonment” if the current matter had been dealt with at the same time as the Jets Leagues assault, but said the delay was “no fault of [Dobson’s] own”.

Mr Fairclough further noted Dobson was a father of three and that no alcohol was involved in the present offending, unlike most of his prior convictions.

Ms Payne said she that a sentence of imprisonment was “the only appropriate sentence”.

“Road users should feel safe enough to drive a vehicle on a public road without fear that some person such as yourself, who cannot control his anger, will jump out of his car and proceed to assault them,” she said.

Dobson was sentenced to six months imprisonment, wholly suspended for 12 months.

He was further ordered to pay $1500 in compensation to the victim, and a conviction was recorded.