Qld: Road rager avoids jail because of case delay
By Christine Flatley05 Jan 2009 1:36 PM
BRISBANE, Jan 5 AAP - A man involved in a road rage incident 22 years ago has avoided jail because of the delay in bringing the matter to court.
The Brisbane District Court was told Peter Thomas Buchanan was barely out of his teens in 1986 when he deliberately used his car to ram another car at Redcliffe, east of Brisbane.
Prosecutor David Nardone said Buchanan then absconded to NSW where he lived a relatively crime-free life until police finally tracked him down and arrested him in 2005.
The court was told the case was then further delayed because of administrative errors in transferring the matter back to Brisbane.
Buchanan finally appeared in court on Monday, 22 years after the road rage incident.
He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and wilful damage.
Judge Terry Martin said Buchanan would have gone to jail had he been sentenced immediately after the offence.
However, he said a jail term was no longer appropriate as Buchanan had demonstrated substantial rehabilitation since his behaviour as a "youthful idiot".
Judge Martin instead fined Buchanan $2,000 and disqualified him from driving for six months.
