Chopper Read’s son in court after throwing pole ‘like a javelin’ at taxi driver
The son of late underworld criminal Chopper Read has been convicted in a Tasmanian court after he hurled a fence paling at a taxi driver who he thought was hassling his girlfriend’s friend. DETAILS >>
Hobart & South
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The son of late underworld criminal Chopper Read has been convicted in court after he hurled a fence paling at a taxi driver who he thought was hassling his girlfriend’s friend.
Charles Vincent Read, 21, known as “Charlie”, appeared in the Hobart Magistrates Court on Thursday over one count of common assault and one count of destroying property.
He pleaded guilty to both charges.
A police prosecutor told Deputy Chief Magistrate Michael Daly Read’s girlfriend and her two female friends had arrived at Read’s home at 3.30am on May 30 last year from a night out drinking.
Read lived in Richmond at the time, but now lives in Sorell.
The cab fare was about $47, so Read’s girlfriend paid the driver $50 and one of her friends told the driver not to bother with change. The two women left the vehicle.
But before the third woman could exit, she realised the doors were locked.
“The (driver) is then described as grabbing that person’s hand and attempting to give her change for the $50 note,” the police prosecutor said.
The woman screamed to be let out, and Read’s girlfriend yelled at the driver from outside the taxi “stop being a creepy dog”.
Read heard the commotion from the house, ran down, grabbed a 2.5m star picket and “rammed” it through the passenger window, the police prosecutor said.
The driver suffered a minor graze on his hand as he used it to shield his face.
He rapidly reversed, damaging his front bumper bar in the process, and Read threw the star picket causing a minor dent, and threw rocks at the cab as he drove away.
The quote for damages was $3325.
The court heard Read told police in an interview on June 28 last year “I threw the fence paling at him like a javelin” and said the women told him the driver had touched their friend.
Mr Daly accepted Read may have been misinformed about the taxi driver’s intentions and his friends’ safety, but described Read’s conduct as a “mad over-reaction”.
“If that picket had have been a few centimetres either side of where it went it could have been a really bad outcome,” Mr Daly said.
Read told Mr Daly “I overreacted”.
Read’s barrister Caroline Graves said the young concreter accepted he engaged in a “reckless” act.
Mr Daly said Read was young with no prior convictions. He recorded a conviction, ordered Read to pay complaint costs of $109.30 and issued a 12 month community corrections order.
Ms Graves told the Mercury it had been difficult for Read garnering media attention and social pressure simply for being Chopper Read’s son.
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