Colby Peckham: Dubbo man’s surprise attack on couple inside taxi

A magistrate has blasted a Dubbo man after he surprised a couple inside a taxi and attacked them in a early morning incident late last year. Find out what happened.

A Dubbo man who surprised a couple inside a taxi and attacked them has learnt his fate in Dubbo Local Court this week.

Colby Peckham, 20, appeared in court on Wednesday after entering pleas of guilty to two charges including assault occasioning actual bodily harm and destroying or damaging property.

According to documents tendered in Dubbo Local Court, Peckham and the victim had no previous relationship with each other prior to the attack.

On November 27, 2021, after leaving in a taxi from the Pastoral Hotel at around 1.15am, the couple was in the vehicle waiting at the traffic lights at the intersection of Darling and Talbragar streets when Peckham “forcefully swung open” the rear passenger door.

Colby Peckham appeared in Dubbo Local Court this week, pleading guilty to two charges.

“(Peckham) then proceeded to throw a number of punches directed at the head of the victim,” agreed facts state.

“The victim then braced himself and moved his body over toward (his partner) to use his body as protection for her.

“ (Peckham) continued to throw punches toward the head area of the victim. Punches connected with the head … which resulted in the glasses of the victim being broken.”

The victim was left with a sore jaw and a raised bruise on the right-hand side of his head.

During the attack, Peckham could be heard saying, “you f**king dog” at the victim.

To try and fend off Peckham, the victim attempted to kick at the 20-year-old, before he was pulled away by a group of other unknown young males.

The taxi driver then drove away and dropped the victim and his partner at their home.

At 1.47am, Peckham messaged the victim on Facebook, taking full responsibility for the incident, saying that “he would be happy to sort it out one-on-one”, court documents reveal.

“(Peckham) was upset and angry, however did not want any more trouble or another altercation to occur,” agreed facts state.

During the day of the attack, the victim was left anxious and worried that Peckham or “others” would come to his house and start another altercation.

Peckham was placed under arrest the following day on November 28, 2021 and conveyed to Dubbo Police Station to be placed into custody.

The court heard from Peckham’s lawyer Thomas Russell that the section five threshold – meaning a court must not sentence an offender to imprisonment unless it was satisfied – “might not have been crossed” due to his client’s youth, lack of criminal antecedents and his willingness to take responsibility for his actions.

Mr Russell said due to Peckham reaching out to the victim shortly after the attack, it displayed his regret for the attack, further explaining that he has a low risk of reoffending.

Through completing the MERIT program, Mr Russell appealed to Magistrate Theresa Hamilton saying that his client has gained insight into how substance abuse issues affected his judgement, relating to his behaviour in the attack.

In sentencing Peckham, Magistrate Hamilton accepted that the defendant has since realised that substance abuse was part of the problem.

However, she described the attack as “inexplicable”.

“As far as I know he was told things about this person from someone else,” Magistrate Hamilton said.

Due to Peckham’s limited history, where he had only been in front of the court once before where he was not convicted, Magistrate Hamilton did not believe the section five threshold had been crossed.

Peckham was convicted and handed an 18-month community corrections order with 80 hours of community service to be completed.