William Hoff: Electrical tradie pleads guilty to unicyclist cup assault

A good Samaritan dobbed in a young tradie’s ‘reckless’ behaviour on the roads on Christmas Day. Read the surprising act that landed him before the courts.

WIlliam Hoff, 19, threw a Coca-Cola McDonalds cup out the window of a moving car at the exact time a man on a unicycle was riding past, hitting him in the arm. Picture: Ashleigh Tullis

A young tradie has been reprimanded for his “stupid” drunken decision to throw his rubbish out of a moving car hitting a unicyclist.

William Hoff, 19, appeared in Sutherland Local Court on Thursday where he pleaded guilty to common assault over the Christmas Day incident.

Agreed facts tendered to court said Hoff, who lives in Caringbah, was in the back seat of a Hyundai i30 along Denman Ave, Woolooware.

A man was riding a unicycle along the footpath of the road at about 15km/h per hour.

Hoff threw his cardboard McDonalds frozen Coca-Cola cup out of the window of the car at the exact time the cyclist was riding past.

The cup hit the unicyclist on the right shoulder and arm, shocking him and causing him to wobble and almost fall off, court documents said.

A woman saw the incident while travelling behind Hoff’s car and took a photo of the number plate.

A couple of weeks later, the witness reported the incident to police.

Police investigated the incident, discovering who owned the car.

William Hoff left Sutherland Local Court on Thursday after being scolded by a magistrate for his “tomfoolery”. Picture: Ashleigh Tullis

A female driver was confirmed to be driving the car on Christmas Day and she gave a statement to police indicating Hoff threw the cup outside.

It was not until August 10 this year when Hoff attended Cronulla Police Station where he made full admissions to throwing the cup rather than putting it in a rubbish bin.

He told police he had been at a Christmas Party, drank beers and was highly intoxicated.

Hoff said he did not want to finish the drink at the time and threw it out the window without looking where it landed and he was unaware he hit anyone.

Police documents said Hoff’s actions were reckless.

In court on Thursday, Hoff’s lawyer said her client was an electrical apprentice living at home with his parents, who had spoken to him about his foolish actions.

Hoff had no criminal history and entered a plea of guilty.

The lawyer also told the court Hoff had limited financial means due to the nature of his employment.

Magistrate Phillip Stewart said Hoff’s actions were “stupid” and he should not have engaged in such “tomfoolery”.

He also noted Hoff’s actions could have seriously injured the victim, especially because unicycles are more unstable than regular bikes.

“Bins are for throwing rubbish in,” he said. “Don’t do something so silly again.”

Mr Stewart decided to show Hoff leniency, deciding to place him on a conditional release order without conviction for 18 months.