Rowan Arthur Barker faces Warwick Magistrates Court over road rage assault

A Warwick man was caught on video assaulting another man after a road rage incident boiled over into violence.

A Warwick man’s road rage incident with a fellow motorist ended in court after the conflict quickly escalated and it was all caught on film.

Rowan Arthur Barker pleaded guilty in Warwick Magistrates Court on Monday to one count of assault occasioning bodily harm.

Barker was busted after his road rage spiralled into an assault following a driving altercation on the New England Highway at Rosenthal Heights on June 29, 2022.

The court was told both men exited their vehicles following an argument over each other’s driving, with the pair yelling at each other from their vehicles.

After stopping and getting out of their vehicles, the court was told the victim filmed Barker approaching him, and Barker was also recording the man.

The victim received bruising to the side of his head after he was struck once by Barker.

Both men returned to their vehicles, but the man who was punched attended hospital.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Steve de Lissa told the court the 56-year-old initially said he only had pushed the man, but after seeing the footage made full admissions to punching the man.

Defence lawyer Dylan Hans noted that Barker had relevant history, however the charges were 15 years ago.

Mr Hans said Barker worked six days a week as a truck driver, and a conviction could “jeopardise his job”.

Magistrate Andrew Cridland said that “prison could be within range” for this sort of offending, and noted that Barker had a “history of violence” in his past, however, it had been a significant amount of time since the man had last appeared in front of a magistrate.

“The history is there but it is very dated, and it is a history of violence, it has been 15 years since you last appeared in court, so that in itself can be seen as there has been some rehabilitation,” Mr Cridland said.

Barker was slapped with a $1500 fine, and no conviction was recorded.