Fine, no licence after attack. Cost of rage

Alex de Vos
A road rage attack yesterday cost a Drysdale man his licence and an $800 fine.
Geelong Magistrate Ian von Einem found Drysdale’s Mark Hardcastle, 43, guilty of careless driving and assaulting a motorist during the “serious” road rage attack.
The defendant told the court the victim, 24-year-old Matto Pavlovic, had failed to give way to him as he passed through the intersection of Duke and Wynd-ham streets where Hardcastle had right of way.
However, Mr von Einem was not convinced of Hardcastle’s version of events, saying he did not believe him.
Mr Pavlovic told the court Hardcastle had driven up behind him and cut him off.
Hardcastle then slammed on his brakes to stop a metre in front of Mr Pavlovic’s vehicle.
The victim said Hardcastle got out of his car and started “screaming abuse” before attacking Mr Pavlovic through the window.
“He screamed “you f…ing little smart arse, you think it’s funny to cut me off”,” Mr Pavlovic said.
He told the court Hardcastle grabbed him by the throat and began shaking him violently.
“He was screaming ‘I’m going to beat the c..p out of you, you little c..t’,” Mr Pavlovic said.
He told the court he had not seen Hardcastle and did not believe he had cut off his car.
Mr Pavlovic said he told Hardcastle he would be “more than happy” to talk about the traffic incident at the police station.
Hardcastle described the incident as a “love tap gone wrong”.
Magistrate Ian von Einem said the “serious incident of road rage” was “all too common in Geelong” before fining Hardcastle and suspending his licence.