‘Appalling’: Judge lashes angry man who drove into boy on bicycle

An angry Bridgewater man made a “terrible decision” when he deliberately drove at and knocked a boy from his bicycle, wrongly believing the bike was his. What a judge decided.

Green Point Road, Bridgewater.

An angry Bridgewater man made a “terrible decision” when he deliberately drove at and knocked a boy from his bicycle, wrongly believing the bike was his.

Raymond Anthony Baldwin, 25, had his bike stolen from his home a week before his furious November 2022 episode.

In her newly-published comments on passing sentence, Supreme Court judge Helen Wood said on the day in question, Baldwin drove into a car park at Bridgewater’s Green Point Plaza.

A 13-year-old boy had just performed a “mono”, or a “wheelie”, balancing on the back wheel of his mountain bike, which Baldwin assumed was his.

Baldwin, “in the heat of anger”, then accelerated and intentionally struck the boy at a speed of at least 42km/h, Justice Wood found.

She said the impact caused the boy’s bike to move out from underneath him – and he hit his head on the ground while not wearing a helmet.

The impact also “mangled” the back wheel of his bike and damaged the frame.

Justice Wood said the terrified boy ran into Woolworths to find his mother, yelling for help.

But Baldwin stopped his car in the right-hand lane, chasing the boy inside “in a state of fury”, yelling that he was “going to kill him and that his bike was stolen”.

The boy’s mother confronted him and said the bike was not his. Baldwin left, looking closely at the bicycle before driving away.

Bridgewater's Green Point Plaza. Picture: Google Maps

Baldwin later told police he thought the boy was riding his own bike, which had been recently stolen, and that was why he chased him into the supermarket.

He admitted briskly leaving the car park, claiming he was scared for his safety as he was being confronted by members of the public due to their “ill-feeling towards him”.

The boy was taken to the Royal Hobart Hospital but discharged with minor injuries, such as bruising.

Justice Wood said to drive at a child, subjecting them to the forces of a collision, was “an appalling and extremely serious act of violence”.

“The child could easily have sustained permanent and serious bodily injury or been killed,” she said.

“It is extremely fortunate that he sustained only minor injuries.”

Baldwin, who pleaded guilty to assault, dangerous driving and a summary offence of failing to stop after being involved in a crash, was sentenced to a one-year home detention order and must complete 140 hours of community service.

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Originally published as ‘Appalling’: Judge lashes angry man who drove into boy on bicycle