Michael Scott Carter: Bendigo man’s riot through town after sniffing paint

A terrified woman managed to escape her car moments before its roof caved in during a paint-sniffing father’s Bendigo rampage.

A paint-huffing Kangaroo Flat father, who went on a “rampage” through the heart of Bendigo, has been told an order to access services would be wasted on him.

Michael Scott Carter pleaded guilty and was sentenced at Bendigo Magistrates‘ Court on Wednesday, April 28, for his one-man riot through the city.

The court heard Carter was with a female friend at a Bendigo bus stop when he started inhaling paint chemicals from a can, through a straw, moments before the chaos began on November 23.

After ‘chroming’ – a term used to describe getting high by intentionally inhaling fumes — Carter began running through busy traffic and trying to punch passing buses.

He threw a bag of clothes onto the street, and then held up traffic as he wove through cars across the road to pick them up again.

One woman who stopped her car in the middle of the chaos became the target of Carter’s attention.

The intoxicated 27-year-old ran at the woman’s car and threw his body on the windscreen, smashing it.

Carter then climbed on top of the vehicle and started jumping up and down while the woman inside screamed.

The woman escaped before the roof of her car caved in.

Greater Bendigo Council CCTV footage captured the mayhem, with police estimating Carter had caused thousands of dollars in damage.

Carter’s lawyer, Robert Timms, said the Kangaroo Flat father had no memory of the “rampage” as a result of the chroming.

“It’s going down to what was happening in his brain,” Mr Timms said.

Mr Timms said his client likely had a “neurological deficit” which had combined with his extensive drug use.

He said the 27-year-old, who lived with his grandparents, was now drug-free and had handwritten three apology letters to his victim.

“He acknowledges the victim would have been terrified in her car with him jumping on the roof,” Mr Timms said.

Mr Timms said Carter knew his actions were serious and frightening.

This was not Carter’s only tangle with the law in Bendigo.

Carter went to Dan Murphy’s and stuffed a 17-year-old bottle of whiskey down his pants on May 2, 2020.

Staff confronted him while he was shoving the $178 bottle in his trousers.

When police caught up to him, Carter said he stole the alcohol to “either swap for bud or to give to his girlfriend to make her happy”.

The stolen whiskey was not recovered.

Carter, who had previously pleaded guilty to the charges, appeared at the Bendigo Magistrates’ Court for sentencing on Wednesday, April 28.

Magistrate Russell Kelly said Carter’s actions were “disgraceful” and “madness”.

Despite the need for mental health and drug intervention, Mr Kelly said a community corrections order would not work for the Kangaroo Flat father.

“He‘s breached every CCO he’s been given,” Mr Kelly said.

He implored the man to seek help from the Bendigo and District Aboriginal Co Operative of his own free will.

“It‘s up to Mr Carter to stay off the gear,” Mr Kelly said.

“I‘m quite certain if you get back on the drugs we’ll be seeing you back here in a few weeks.”

Carter was sentenced to six months in custody, with 196 days already served behind bars.