‘Could have turned bad’: driver faces court for ramming car during Cygnet street brawl

A 26-year old Channel man who deliberately rammed his ute into an adversary’s stationary vehicle during an early morning melee on Cygnet’s main street faces court.

Keanan Taylor McKenzie-Everett appeared before Justice Tamara Jago in the Supreme Court in Hobart on Tuesday for sentencing submissions into the crime he committed on 19 June, 2022.

A 26-year old Channel man who deliberately rammed his ute into an adversary’s stationary vehicle during an early morning melee on Cygnet’s main street three years ago has pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous driving.

Keanan Taylor McKenzie-Everett appeared before Justice Tamara Jago in the Supreme Court in Hobart on Tuesday for sentencing submissions into the crime he committed on 19 June, 2022.

The court heard the complainant in the matter was driving home with friends after a night at the Cygnet Hotel when they got into an altercation with another group of men about 500m down the road.

After the complainant stopped his Ford Ranger in the middle of the road with the engine idling, a then-23-year-old McKenzie-Everett climbed into the driver’s seat, drove a short distance, then threw the car keys into nearby property.

Prosecutors said the defendant briefly left the scene before returning in an unregistered Mitsubishi Triton utility, which he drove directly at complainant’s car before swerving away at the last moment.

McKenzie-Everett then reversed his ute into the complainant’s vehicle, causing $34,000 damage, before performing a burnout which caused the Mitsubishi to stall.

Crown prosecutor, Edward Burrows-Cheng, said the risks of crashing one car into another were obvious, and that the defendant had performed the burnout in close proximity to a number of people who were trying to get him out the vehicle.

“This could have turned bad very quickly,” Mr Burrows-Cheng said.

Defence counsel, Craig Rainbird, told the court his client had reacted after seeing his brother lying unconscious in a gutter after being attacked by members of the complainant’s group, and had made positive changes in his life since the incident, including finding work on fishing boats.

Mr Rainbird said McKenzie-Everett’s offending was different to typical cases of dangerous driving that came before the court, in that it was not prolonged, did not involve a police pursuit, and did not take place in a built-up area.

Justice Jago bailed the defendant to reappear on Wednesday for sentence.