Accused attempted murderer denied bail following ‘bizarre’ alleged road rage incident

A man accused of running over another man with his car in an alleged Australia Day road rage incident in Acacia Hills has been denied bail.

Darryl Dighton unsuccessfully applied for bail in the Darwin Local Court on Monday.

A MAN accused of running over another man with his car in an alleged Australia Day road rage incident in Acacia Hills has been denied bail.

Darryl Dighton, 49, faced the Darwin Local Court on Monday charged with attempted murder where his lawyer, Peter Maley, indicated he was in discussions with prosecutors on a potential plea to a lesser charge.

• Alleged road rage attacker charged with attempted murder to apply for bail
• Man accused of attempted murder still in hospital, misses first court appearance

Mr Maley said the victim in the altercation was armed with a steel bar which he used to strike his client to the head and the harm caused to the other man was not in dispute.

He said Dighton had been assessed as suitable for monitoring and while he had a prior criminal history, it consisted of “overwhelmingly traffic matters”.

“(This alleged offending) is really something from left field,” he said.

Mr Maley said while jail time was inevitable for his client, even if prosecutors accepted a plea to the lesser charge, it would not be crushing and would likely be partially suspended.

“He will get a term of imprisonment even on the matters we have put to the Crown,” he said.

“He might get five (years) and two to serve out of it.”

If granted bail, Mr Maley said Dighton would live in Humpty Doo, away from the victim in the matter, who was based “down towards Darwin River”.

“They’re not neighbours, they are not going to fight over the fence,” he said.

But in reply prosecutor Stephen Geary said the case against Dighton was “overwhelming”, describing the circumstances of the alleged offending as “bizarre”.

Mr Geary said Dighton had a history of failing to turn up at court and a prior conviction for making a false statement.

“He’s a threat to the community, partly because of his bizarre actions on that day but also he’s a flight risk,” he said.

Mr Geary said while “no one’s covered in glory” out of the incident, “it’s not as simple as an iron bar versus a car” and Dighton would be looking at a significant head sentence if convicted.

“The actions of the accused are so far out of bounds of what is appropriate conduct,” he said.

In denying bail, Judge Sue Oliver said while the facts of the matter were “unusual” it “seems to be a particularly strong case”.

“There are eye witnesses to what occurred, one of those at least has given a statement to police already,” she said.

Ms Oliver said Dighton had limited ties to the NT and was likely to be found guilty of an offence arising from the altercation and subsequently face a lengthy prison sentence.

She described a supervision report prepared for the court as “minimalist”, noting it “doesn’t even mention the charge” or consider the proximity of the victim and the accused’s residences.

“In my view he would pose a flight risk,” she said.

Dighton will return to court on March 25.