Matthew James Hollitt told young woman she ‘deserves it’ after being pinned to Stobie pole in horror crash at Lonsdale, court told
A dangerous driver who crashed into a young motorcyclist and pinned her to a Stobie pole told the traumatised, injured woman she “f**king deserves it”, a court has heard.
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A man who deliberately drove on to the wrong side of the road to tailgate a motorcyclist told her she “f***ing deserves this” after crashing into her and pinning her against a Stobie pole.
On Tuesday, Matthew James Hollitt sat silent in the dock as Rachel Secker told the court how his driving in the lead-up to the crash made her feel “endangered” as he pursued her and she tried to take “defensive” action.
“I would never want anyone else to have to endure what has been forced upon me, which is why I hope that you, Matthew, realise that the choices you decided to make that day will impact me for the rest of my life,” Ms Secker told the court.
“Not just how you used your motor vehicle against me, but the fact that while I was vulnerable and injured you yelled at me ‘you deserve this, you f***ing deserve this’.”
The court heard witnesses at the scene saw he refused to render assistance, and said Ms Secker – then just 20 – “deserves what she gets” and he “wanted to teach her a lesson”.
Ms Secker suffered life-threatening injuries after the January 2023 crash at the roundabout at the intersection of O’Sullivan Beach Rd and Brodie Rd in Lonsdale.
The court heard Ms Secker and Hollitt had been driving along the southern expressway when Hollitt overtook Ms Secker in a way that made her fear for her safety.
The court heard Hollitt drove deliberately on to the wrong side of the road behind Ms Secker, which he claimed was to seek her registration plate after she tapped his side mirror as she passed him, in a manner “wholly unjustified and illegal”.
Judge Kristopher Handshin commented the manoeuvre was “impossible to explain” and “such a pointless and dangerous exercise” as the defendant’s car was equipped with dashcams – which captured the entire crash.
The court heard the footage captured by Hollitt’s cameras was “confronting”.
“It is only by sheer good fortune that he did not kill Ms Secker as a consequence of his driving,” Amelia Mclean, for the prosecution, said.
Hollitt, 42, of Morphett Vale, pleaded guilty to one count of causing harm by dangerous driving
Noah Redmond, for Hollitt, told the court his client “takes full responsibility” for the conduct on the day and was “genuinely remorseful”.
Mr Redmond said the crash was “quite a traumatic event” for Ms Secker and his client, and his client’s reaction was “not a great reaction” but an “understandable reaction in the circumstances”.
Defence asked the court to order a report into his client’s suitability to serve the sentence on home detention, and submitted that Hollitt – who is autistic – would experience incarceration “harshly”.
Hollitt was remanded on continuing bail until April.
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