Ewan Stubbings sentenced over hit and run at Forresters Beach

Ewan Stubbings had been at the pub for the afternoon before he got behind the wheel of his Ford Ranger. The young plumber has been sentenced over a hit and run at Forresters Beach.

A young man who spent the afternoon at the pub was cutting laps of a Forresters Beach street before he hit a local resident and drove off.

Ewan Stubbings, a plumber from East Kurrajong, has been sentenced in Gosford Local Court over the hit and run in Mistview Circuit on October 28 2021.

Stubbings, 26, pleaded guilty to causing bodily harm by misconduct in charge of a motor vehicle, fail to stop and assist after impact causing injury, negligent driving as well as assaulting an officer and resisting an officer.

An agreed set of facts tendered to the court stated that Mr Stubbings had issues with alcohol and “once sober was remorseful for his actions”.

The facts stated that on October 28, Mr Stubbings drove his Ford Ranger to Bateau Bay Hotel and “consumed a number of alcoholic beverages over a few hours”.

He left the hotel and around 7.25pm was driving along Mistview Circuit in Forresters Beach.

“He travelled around the loop road twice … numerous residents heard and observed the vehicle travelling at speed,” the facts read.

Stubbings then hit a parked VW Amarok before continuing to drive.

The court heard residents came out of their homes after hearing the impact, with the victim and his wife walking up the street.

“CCTV from a nearby house captured the victim walking on the road towards the kerb,” the court documents read.

“The accused is observed travelling along Mistview Circuit and failed to see the victim standing on the road, impacting with him with the front nearside of the vehicle.

Mistview Circuit is a loop road in Forresters Beach.

“The victim was heavily impacted with the roadway and emergency services were contacted. “The accused failed to stop and render assistance and continued along The Entrance Rd.”

The victim was taken to Gosford Hospital with a suspected fractured hip and head injuries.

The court heard that the victim’s wife took a photo of Mr Stubbings’s vehicle which identified his registration number.

Later that night, police went to Mr Stubbings’s house in Bateau Bay and found the Ford Ranger out the front.

The facts stated Mr Stubbings was asleep and when police woke him he was “belligerent and incoherent”, appearing to be under the influence of alcohol and or an illicit substance.

When he was arrested, he tried to escape and in doing so kneed a senior constable in the left testicle.

Mr Stubbings leaving court.

He was taken to Gosford Police Station where he was interviewed and told police he was the driver of the Ford Ranger, was driving intoxicated and had removed number plates from his vehicle.

Mr Stubbings’s criminal lawyer Marc Riviere said Mr Stubbings had no criminal history and was attempting to get a plumbing business off the ground.

“He didn’t realise he’d hit (the victim) and said he would have stopped had he known he caused that amount of injury,” Mr Riviere said.

He said Mr Stubbings had take the matter very seriously and sought out help for his alcohol and mental health issues.

“He realises alcohol has a very poor affect on his behaviour and he uses it to deal with stresses in his life,” he said.

Mr Stubbings was sentenced at Gosford Local Court. Picture: David Swift

Magistrate Jennifer Price said she accepted that Mr Stubbings had taken substantial steps to get his life back together and had sought help before the incident.

“There’s positive things in terms of prospects of rehabilitation. No doubt this had been a significant wake up call,” she said.

However she said general deterrence for the offences was needed as the situation could have “ended much worse than it did”.

Mr Stubbings was sentenced to an 18 month community corrections order and fined $1750. He was also disqualified from driving for 15 months and ordered to do 75 hours of community service.