Steven Lee Mether to face retrial for common assault charge after successful appeal of conviction

A tow truck driver accused of assaulting a competitor on the M1 will face a new trial after his conviction was overturned on appeal.

A TOW truck driver accused of assaulting a competitor on the M1 will face a new trial after his conviction was overturned on appeal.

Lawyers for Steven Lee Mether, who is charged with common assault, last month successfully argued the magistrate failed to “properly consider and apply the defence of provocation” during a trial in May 2021.

It was alleged in court documents that on September 12, 2020 Mether threw a folder at the man, hitting him in the head.

During evidence the alleged victim said he and Mether were waiting near the M1 when they both were alerted to a crash.

While travelling on the M1 the alleged victim claims he saw Mether “slam his brakes on”, causing him to crash into the $180,000 truck.

They continued driving to the crash site only to find that the vehicle involved didn’t require towing, it was claimed in court documents.

Slow moving traffic along the M1 near Oxenford, Gold Coast. (AAP Image/Regi Varghese)

A dispute then arose about their vehicles which had collided.

Dashcam footage allegedly shows Mether thrust a clipboard at his rival, which hit the side of his face. A verbal altercation appeared to follow, it is claimed in the court documents.

Under cross examination, the alleged victim accused Mether of brake checking him.

In his police interview, Mether said traffic was heavy and people were stopping in a hurry, when the alleged victim crashed into his truck.

He told them the “complainant would not give him his details at the accident and that is why I was so angry with him” and he “threw the black folder” in the “heat of the moment”.

“If he hadn’t have run into me nothing would have happened. I wouldn’t be sitting here right now. And if he had have exchanged details, we wouldn’t be sitting here right now. It’s preventable,” he told police.

His legal team argued that the defence of provocation could be met because the alleged victim “wrongly” accused Mether of fault and then refused to provide his personal details as required by law, court documents state.

The District Court appeal judge ruled in favour of Mether, noting the magistrate did not complete a crucial element in considering the defence of provocation.

The appeal judge ordered a retrial before a new magistrate, and set aside the common assault conviction.

Mether’s solicitor, Jason Jacobson, of Jacobson Mahony Lawyers, told the Bulletin: “The matter was a dispute between rival tow truck operators that really shouldn’t have taken the police resources and court time that it did.”

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