Mark Blanch and Micaela Harradine: Logan couple’s road rage leaves man battered, bleeding and broken

A court has heard how a convicted drug dealer and his partner ganged up on a driver with a plank of wood when they were cut off in traffic.

A convicted drug dealer and his partner followed a driver home, pulled him from a car and beat him with a plank of wood until his arm broke and he lost consciousness, the Beenleigh District Court heard on Monday.

Woodridge man Mark Adrian Blanch, 29, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm while armed and in company, for a road rage incident that occurred at Slacks Creek on November 11, 2019.

His partner Micaela Harradine had previously pleaded guilty to wilfully damaging property and assault occasioning bodily harm while armed and in company at the Beenleigh Magistrates Court and was sentenced to 12 months probation, with no conviction recorded.

The court heard Blanch and Harradine were driving in separate cars through Loganlea when an unknown person cut them off, pulling sharply in front of Newman and causing him to brake suddenly.

Logan couple Mark Blanch and Micaela Harradine have each been convicted of a road rage incident in which a man's arm was broken.

The move angered Blanch, who not only stopped at the next lights to get out of his car and confront the driver, but also followed the driver back to a private residence at Opal St in Slacks Creek.

A man came out of the home with a plank of wood, so Blanch and Harradine left to get a group of four people together.

The court heard that when they returned, this time with greater manpower, they pulled the victim Mark Thomas Newman, 23, from his car as it pulled into the driveway, and began to beat him.

“Unknown persons” kicked and punched Newman, who picked up another plank of wood to defend himself.

Upon seeing this, Blanch also grabbed a plank of wood and began to hit Newman with it, bashing him over the head and the arm.

Blanch hit the man with such force he fractured his arm and caused him to lose consciousness, requiring hospitalisation.

The couple appeared at Beenleigh Courthouse with their young child in tow.

In an interview with police on November 17, Blanch said the complainant had a baseball bat he used to hit their car, he “tried to run everyone over” and “jumped out of the car with two knives”, as read by the police prosecutor.

He also denied assaulting everyone.

This account of the incident was not accepted by the police and no further charges were laid.

The court heard Blanch had been sentenced to two years imprisonment with immediate parole for supplying dangerous drugs, when he appeared at the Beenleigh District Court on June 5, 2019.

Blanch was serving that parole when the offences occurred.

The defence counsel characterised Blanch’s offending as a “real act of stupidity” and said Blanch had turned a corner since the birth of his daughter nine months ago.

She noted Blanch has been strictly complying with parole since the incident, attending a five-week anger management course, returning clean drug tests and consistently reporting.

The judge determined that it would be disruptive to Blanch’s demonstrated rehabilitation to have him re-incarcerated and sentenced him to two years imprisonment, wholly suspended for an operational period of two years.

Blanch, who appeared to be holding back tears, and Harradine let out audible sighs of relief upon hearing the sentence.

The judge said it would be “appalling” for Blanch to act up again and risk leaving Harradine and their child without any support.