A MAN who deliberately hit a Gawler businessman with a stolen motorbike, leaving him to pay for extensive medical costs that crippled his business, could be released from prison next month.
Shannon Daniel Lane, of Elizabeth North, was sentenced in the Adelaide District Court last Monday after pleading guilty to two counts of theft, recklessly causing harm and driving whilst disqualified relating to an incident at Evanston on November 14, 2017.
Lane, 20, was sentenced to three years in jail with a non-parole period of 18 months, which was backdated to March last year, meaning he could be released on September 18.
The court heard Lane, along with his father and another accomplice, stole two motorbikes from Gawler Park Shopping Centre business Mick’s Motorcycles and wheeled them to the Gawler & District College carpark on nearby Barnet Road, before Lane’s father left the carpark to collect a car and trailer.
A passer-by alerted Mick’s Motorcycles owner Michael Tucker to the theft, who then got into his work van and searched the area for the stolen bikes, with a colleague notifying him they were in the school’s carpark.
When Mr Tucker reached the carpark, Lane was hiding in a bush before he started one of the motorbikes and deliberately hit Mr Tucker as he rode away.
The force of the collision caused Mr Tucker’s body to somersault in the air before he landed and briefly lost consciousness.
He suffered a broken right leg and left ankle, ruptured the anterior cruciate and medial ligaments in his right knee, and sustained deep lacerations to both legs and his head as a result of the crash.
In sentencing Lane, Judge Paul Muscat outlined the impact Mr Tucker’s injuries subsequently had on his life and career.
“He can no longer enjoy many of the things he loved in his life, including being unable to race motorcycles, which was a big part of his life, promotion of his business and his passion,” he said.
“He fears he will never get back to the life he had and as a result this has caused him to suffer stress and anxiety.
“His injuries have also resulted in him suffering significant financial pressure as he is no longer able to manage the business as he did before.
“Indeed, you heard this morning that as a result, he is facing bankruptcy.
“It has been a very distressing time for him also because he had to sell his racing motorcycles as he was no longer able to race them and because of the financial pressure that he was experiencing since the incident.”
The Bunyip reported last week that Mick’s Motorcycles went into liquidation in early August.
Judge Muscat also rejected Lane’s assertion he did not intend to hit Mr Tucker, but scare him away by driving directly at him.
“You had a number of options to leave that car park without having to ride the motorcycle directly at Mick Tucker,” he said.
Lane’s father was earlier sentenced in the Magistrates Court to five months for the theft of one of the motorbikes.
Mr Tucker did not wish to make comment when contacted by The Bunyip.