Monash used-car dealer Stephen Rundle sentenced after attack on Uber driver
A Monash second-hand car dealer has been sentenced after he repeatedly punched an Uber driver and called him a “black c —” in a vicious drunken assault.
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UPDATED: A second-hand car dealer who punched and racially vilified an uber driver while drunk has been sentenced to a two-year community corrections order.
Stephen Rundle, 52, pleaded guilty yesterday at the Ringwood Magistrates’ Court to recklessly causing injury after he repeatedly punched and racially abused a ride-share driver in an unprovoked attack last year.
Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Adrian Batson told the court Rundle’s partner called the Uber to their Wheelers Hill home to drop their friend home following dinner on May 9.
But when the Uber arrived Rundle opened the passenger door and “launched” himself at the driver, punching him in the head and shoulder, Sen-Constable Batson said.
He said Rundle repeatedly called the man a “black c —” and threatened to shoot him, and when the driver tried to film the attack on his phone, Rundle became further enraged.
The Uber driver eventually escaped after Rundle’s partner intervened, the court heard.
Rundle’s defence counsel told the court her client’s behaviour was “appalling” and when he sobered up he was “disgusted by himself”.
She said Rundle had been through a marriage breakdown and was struggling to support a son addicted to ice in the years leading up to the incident.
In sentencing on January 17, Magistrate Mary-Anne MacCallum said she was satisfied the incident was not racially motivated, despite the racist slurs.
And she accepted Rundle’s defence lawyer’s submission that he’d been through an emotionally tumultuous period leading up to the incident including a marriage breakdown and supporting a son who was addicted to methamphetamine.
“You were intoxicated and lost all self control,” Ms MacCallum said.
“You stated in your letter to the court that you bottled up your feelings and drank to overcome your pain.”
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The victim experienced ongoing physical pain as a result of his injuries and had been unable to return to work as an Uber driver, Magistrate MacCallum said.
But she accepted the defence’s submission that a conviction would jeopardise Rundle’s motor car trader’s licence and the ongoing viability of the used car dealership he had owned and run for 32 years.
Magistrate MacCallum sentenced Rundle to a two-year community corrections order and ordered him to complete a course in cultural sensitivity and respect.
She also ordered him to complete 250 hours of community work.