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news
Shelley Anne Alabaster road rage (9News Queensland)Aussie road rage driver chased cyclist and smashed SUV through suburban fences
A court in Queensland, Australia, heard how an enraged woman "turned her vehicle into a weapon" and chased a cyclist through a suburban neighbourhood, making "racial accusations" and smashing her SUV through garden fences in her pursuit of the victim.
Shelley Anne Alabaster had earlier struck the cyclist in Inala at around 3.30am on 30 October 2021 and was then seen on GoPro footage recorded by the rider driving her vehicle after him, revving the engine and waking neighbours during the rampage.
News.com.au reports the crown prosecutor Elizabeth Kelso told Brisbane Supreme Court: "[The cyclist] tried to raise people in some of the houses while calling triple zero. He had culpable fear. He was dry retching."
In the footage the cyclist can be heard saying "someone is trying to run me over" and "I'm dying, she's going to kill me." Ms Kelso said the initial collision had left the cyclist with bruising to his leg, and there was "nothing" to explain why she then made "racial accusations" and "pursued" him through the neighbourhood.
At one point the cyclist was threatened as he fled to a front garden, the neighbours woken up by the "ferocious" sound of the SUV being revved.
A mother-of-three who chased and threatened to kill a cyclist on an early morning ride has been released from jail. @NatarjshaKramer #9News pic.twitter.com/Kq9wxrHpQG
— 9News Queensland (@9NewsQueensland) December 6, 2022
Alabaster was initially charged with attempted murder but since pleaded guilty to charges of dangerously operating a motor vehicle, threatening violence at night and assault occasioning bodily harm while armed.
She was sentenced to three years in prison but immediately released on parole for the "terrifying" incident after the court heard the victim's impact statement, which judge Peter Callaghan described as "one of the most extraordinary documents I've seen".
Despite the physical and psychological harm imposed the victim told the court he "finds no peace" in Alabaster's incarceration and wished to see the accused "rehabilitated".
"He might be entitled to feel unmitigated enmity towards you… instead he has made a remarkable request, to me, to show the compassion you denied to him," Supreme Court justice Callaghan said. "It's one of the most extraordinary documents I've seen."
Defence barrister Jakub Lodziak said his client was remorseful and "embarrassed" and while not drunk at the time of the incident had been an alcoholic since her 20s and suffered "trauma" growing up.
Alabaster also admitted driving without a licence and five counts of wilful damage and was disqualified from holding a licence for two years. Mr Lodziak said his client had received mental health treatment during her 13-month pre-sentence custody.
The court heard that her criminal history frequently involved being drunk and "behaving poorly" to police.
Sentencing, judge Callaghan told Alabaster she had turned her vehicle "into a weapon and attacked an innocent civilian".
Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.
Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.
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15 comments
racist + criminal history + SUV = trouble.
If she wasn't drunk at the time, then being an alcoholic is surely completely irrelevant to her rampage?
(I wonder what actually triggered her on this occasion)
Well it might have explained why she was already banned for driving, when she was driving.
Also,
So that might be the reason for the defence. "Y'honour, my client usually does stupid things when is drunk, the good news is she wasn't drunk this time".
In my experience alcoholics are often more dangerous when they're sober (assuming it's a period of sobriety between drinking bouts and not aiming for long-term sobriety), when they're edgy, anxious and prone to snap; when drinking they're more relaxed generally. This woman's behaviour seems quite typical of what the Aussies call the "dry horrors" or more scientifically delerium tremens, a psychotic reaction to alcohol withdrawal.
Absolutely. Saying "being an alcoholic is surely completely irrelevant to her rampage" only shows how little someone knows about alcoholism.
Fair enough: as someone who had to stop drinking because I wouldn't stop drinking, I'll bow before your superior knowledge
The racist who threatened to kill the cyclist and arguably attempted to kill them, was not sent to jail after being given 3 years and is now facing deportation.
"Facing deportation"? Where is that mentioned?
In the twitter report, not in the article
I wonder if this means we're getting one of our knuckle dragging fucknuggets returned to us?? Oh joy.
In the video, the reporter says it.
New Zealander; Australia deports non-citizen criminals.
Why is she racist? big assumption there pal.. just because the victim is black.
Truly there are none so blind as those who refuse to see...in the text the perpetrator is described as "making racial accusations" whilst in the video it's reported she was "hurling racial slurs" and in sentencing the judge said, "Your attack was marked by racist abuse." So no assumption at all.
Literally the dictionary definition of a bogan: