Glen Robert Lee was sentenced for road rage attack

A Sunshine Coast tow truck driver who violently attacked a 66-year-old man in front of his son, 13, lied to police when he claimed the elderly man threw the first punch.

A Sunshine Coast tow truck driver who violently attacked a 66-year-old man in front of his son, 13, had a violent history, a court has heard.

Glen Robert Lee was placed on a 12-month suspended sentence for three years after he pleaded guilty to seriously assaulting an elderly man in Sippy Downs on October 26, last year.

Police prosecutor Lee Allan told the court Lee had done a U-turn, parked his car and confronted the man in his sixties about his manner of driving.

“ … (Lee) has verbally abused the victim as to his manner of driving which included threats from … (Lee) saying ‘I'm going to get you, you f---ing c--t’,” Senior Constable Allan said.

“The victim was punched multiple times causing injury.

“The assault only ceased when there was intervention of a witness,” he said.

Constable Allan said the victim was lucky to escape the attack with five 3cm cuts, bruising and sore lower teeth.

The court heard Lee had previously been sentenced for an assault occasioning bodily harm at a car rally function in 1997.

Constable Allan said Lee approached the victim and punched him.

“(Lee) … has grabbed the victim by the shirt and kneed him to the face and head, the victim has fallen to the ground and the defendant has kicked the victim several times to the head and body area,” Constable Allan said.

“When leaving the defendant said ‘you’re f---ing dead next time I see you’.”

Constable Allan suggested Lee should spend a third of a 12 to 15-month prison sentence behind bars.

“This is a vicious assault,” he said.

“Incidences of violent conduct as a consequence of road rage … are apt not only to terrify and injure the victim, but also to alarm and do the same to other users of the roads.”

He asked for Lee to be disqualified from driving and pay compensation to the victim.

Defence solicitor Belinda Robinson told Magistrate Haydn Stjernqvist the 43-year-old had a “violent and traumatic” childhood and consequently suffered from anxiety and depression.

Ms Robinson said Lee was enduring extreme stress as the sole income earner for his long-term partner and their two kids.

“He was driving home from the shops with his 13-year-old son when he became involved in a road rage incident with the victim and he made an irrational decision and … essentially lost control which he is extremely remorseful for,” she said.

Ms Robinson said Lee is limited to only perform breakdown tows after the Department of Transport and Main Roads had cancelled his tow truck driving authority.

She asked Mr Stjernqvist not to disqualify Lee’s driving licence.

“He instructs the loss of his licence would cause him significant financial hardship and that his wife and sons depend on his income,” Ms Robinson said.

Mr Stjernqvist said the road rage incident was an “absolute disgrace”.

“You had the opportunity to let it go and keep driving,” he said.

He said Lee’s claim that the elderly victim had thrown the first punch was a lie.

“You talk about levels of violence that you witnessed, suffered, endured as you were growing up and you had your 13-year-old son in the car …”

He was ordered to pay $500 in compensation to the victim.

Lee was not disqualified from driving.