Glen Smith, former WA diesel mechanic, punched Canberra cop in the face, had loaded pistol
A diesel mechanic who belted a Canberra cop in the face and who is wanted interstate over a police chase interstate has been told to clean up his act and kick his drug habit.
Canberra Star
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A diesel mechanic who belted a Canberra cop in the face and who had a loaded pistol in his four-wheel-drive has been told to kick his drug habit, go back to work, and “make his parents proud of him”.
Glen John Smith, 30, walked free from the ACT Magistrates Court on Wednesday after earlier pleading guilty to assaulting a cop, possessing a folding knife, possessing a loaded pistol and possessing ammo while out on a suspended sentence for possessing a crossbow.
Smith, of Kambah in the ACT, will serve 6 months jail on an intensive corrections order after defence lawyer Tom Taylor argued his client was “exactly the kind of person who needs to be intensively corrected”.
Smith was also fined $300.
Giving evidence, Smith told the court his downward spiral began when he lost a job on the mines in Western Australia after failing a drug test.
He said he moved to Canberra, where he has family, but began using more heavily to cope with being away from his daughter.
Western Australia police last year issued a warrant out for Smith’s arrest following a dramatic chase, in which it is alleged he drove through a closed boom gate, narrowly dodging being hit by a train.
The court heard police spotted Smith’s 4WD parked near the Tuggeranong United Church after a tip-off about suspicious vehicles in the area.
The vehicle had an alert on it for failing to stop, and the officers hid nearby hoping Smith would return.
When he did, the officers “revealed themselves” but Smith “gestured aggressively” before punching one in the face.
The officers tasered Smith, and a search uncovered the gun, ammo and knife.
Magistrate Margaret Hunter said Smith’s criminal history involved weapons, driving and assault charges.
Ms Hunter said Smith spent to much time around drug-taking mates.
“Unfortunately his companions, they’re not particularly prosocial,” she said.
She said it was reassuring Smith had returned clean drug tests in Canberra’s notorious jail, the Alexander Maconochie Centre, where drugs are frequently smuggled in.
“He needs to make his parents proud of him, which they otherwise would have been had he not taken part in all these illegal activities,” she said.
