Two men have who assaulted a man after following him to his northside home in a road rage attack will have a suspended jail sentence hanging over their heads for the next year.
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Toby Stoddard, 19, and Joshua McNamara-Marris, 19, were sentenced in the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday after both pleaded guilty to assault over the attack in Crace last year.
Court documents said the victim had been driving with his wife in Gungahlin on the afternoon of August 15. He then saw the two offenders, who were in a white ute behind him, looking angry and making rude gestures in his direction.
Stoddard, who was driving the ute, then became frustrated when several attempts to overtake the victim failed.
The court heard he believed the man had deliberately slowed down and sped up.
An irate Stoddard then followed the victim to his home and the pair yelled at each other. Stoddard then punched the victim in the head.
The victim returned the punches when McNamara-Marris then joined in and struck him in the head.
The victim's niece saw the fight and told her father, who armed himself with a pole to defend his brother. The man hit Stoddard in the head, opening a large gash next to his right eye, and then struck the offender across the back as he lay on the ground.
The victim's wife then yelled that the police had been called and the offenders fled.
Police stopped the white ute on Ginninderra Drive, Giralang, soon after and Stoddard was taken to hospital for treatment.
During sentencing submissions, the prosecution said it had been a "disturbing" attack on a victim "n the driveway of his home in front of [his] family".
Prosecutor Richard Cawte said Stoddard's head injury should not be treated by the court as an extra-curial punishment. "It in no way mitigates the culpability of these offenders," Mr Cawte said.
He said motorists needed to realise frustrations and perceived slights on the roads were not an excuse for violence.
Stoddard's defence barrister, James Lawton, said his client had no criminal record and had made immediately taken responsibility when interviewed by police. Mr Lawton asked the court to impose a non-conviction order with a good behaviour order and fine.
McNamara-Marris's lawyer, Frank Wilson, said his client felt responsible for the incident, despite not starting the assault.
Magistrate Robert Cook sentenced both men to three months jail, to be fully suspended upon entering a one-year good behaviour order.
Mr Cook also ordered the men pay $855 to cover the cost of ambulances called to the Crace home to treat the victim and his brother.