Leslie Matthew Ruru, 65, sentenced in Toowoomba for hit and run incident

A Queensland man is lucky to be alive after his neighbour repeatedly hit him with a car and left him on the side of a road.

Yuleba resident Leslie Matthew Ruru, 65, appeared before Toowoomba District Court on Wednesday August 28, 2024 pleading guilty to dangerous operation of motor vehicle. Picture: Facebook

A man who twice ran down his neighbour has left him permanently scarred, both mentally and physically, following the terrifyinh incident.

Yuleba resident Leslie Matthew Ruru, 65, appeared before Toowoomba District Court on Wednesday to plead guilty to dangerous operation of a motor vehicle after twice running over his neighbour with a car and abandoning the seriously injured man on the road.

The court heard Ruru, who was a New Zealand citizen living in Australia, first stalked his neighbour with his car down a long driveway following a gathering where the two men fought.

Ruru then drove at and hit the man, causing him to bounce onto the bonnet and into the windscreen before falling to the ground.

Witnesses came to the man’s aid but Ruru hit him again before getting out to fight the man on the ground.

He then threatened to kill the man before driving off.

“(Ruru) is someone who resorts to violence reasonably often,” Crown prosecutor Emily Coley said.

“He clearly showed no regard for the complainant’s wellbeing or safety.

“It is good fortune rather than good management that the complainant was not killed.”

Ruru had been consuming alcohol and cannabis prior to the incident, the court heard.

The victim suffered fractured ribs and a fractured spine at the time of the incident and will likely suffer permanent health consequences for the remainder of his life.

“I’m physically and mentally broken; I’m not the man I was before it happened,” a victim impact statement read.

Defence barrister Nathan Edridge said his client was genuinely remorseful and was not in his right mind at the time of the incident, having been diagnosed with PTSD in 2023.

“Even though that has been a lifelong, or mostly lifelong, condition,” he said.

“He didn’t appreciate the symptoms of the diagnosis he now has.

“That does have an effect on moral culpability.”

He added Ruru was reduced to a wheelchair as a result of serious physical conditions and faced deportation following the proceeding.

“This will make custody more burdensome,” Mr Edridge said.

Ruru was charged fully with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing grievous bodily harm before leaving the scene.

He was sentenced to five years imprisonment, suspended after two years and disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence absolutely.

Under the Migration Act, as a non-citizen offender, Mr Ruru will be deported and forced to return to New Zealand.