A Nowra man charged over a road rage incident in which with two children in his car he threatened another man with a baseball bat has been placed on a community corrections order.
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Scott George Burnes, 38, also lost his licence for 12 months.
Burnes faced Nowra Local Court on March 11 charged with a variety of offences including driving a vehicle that menaces another with intent, two counts of being in custody of an offensive implement in public, two counts of assault and intimidation over two separate incidents.
Court papers said Burnes was driving a Mazda sedan on the Princes Highway at Bomaderry around 3.40pm on December 10 when he attempted a U-turn in a no U-turn area at the intersection of West Bunberra Street.
That action caused a car attempting to pull out of the intersection to brake to avoid a collision.
The court heard the driver of the other vehicle raised his hands in confusion, saying “What are you doing?”
Burnes, who had two young children in the car at the time, completed the turn and started travelling south on the highway.
Police said the victim turned onto the highway, following Burnes’ car, which the court heard, braked continually.
The other driver attempted to overtake Burnes, who yelled at the man and swerved towards the vehicle, forcing the driver to move near the median strip to avoid a collision.
Court papers said Burnes moved his car behind the man’s vehicle and drove so close the victim was unable to see the number plate.
They were stopped by a red traffic light at Bolong Road when Burnes yelled at the other man, telling him to get out of the car.
The driver ignored the challenge and continued driving towards Nowra but saw Burnes throw items at his vehicle, including AA batteries and orange peel.
The man turned off the highway into Moss Street and drove towards the Shoalhaven Ex-Servicemen’s car park where he stopped.
Police said Burnes was armed with a black baseball bat and swung it in the air out the window of his car yelling at the driver “get out of the f….n car, I’ll give you a hit with this”.
The man told Burnes police were on their way.
Officers arrested Burnes a short time later on Kinghorne Street and found the baseball bat in his car.
The court heard Burnes was also involved in an incident in Kalandar Street, Nowra in April last year in which he intimidated a woman with a timber axe handle and was also in custody of a knife. He also faced charges over assaulting two men.
Magistrate Gabriel Fleming placed him on an 18-month community corrections order, meaning he can serve his sentence within the community but he must undertake 100 hours of community service.
She also disqualified him from driving for 12 months and ordered he undergo an anger management program.
Read more: Crime/Court