Driving 'menace' who kicked a cyclist in the face disqualified from driving for 19 years

At one point last year, police found Scott William Bradbery held on the ground by a cyclist he’d just kicked in the face.

The dangerous repeat offender has now been disqualified from driving for 19 years after leading police on several car chases over the past two years.

On Thursday (29 July), the 31-year-old was sentenced in the ACT Magistrates Court over almost 30 charges, including dangerous driving, failing to stop for police and assault.

The first incident began at about 4:00 am on 28 March 2020 when he drove a Holden Astra away from police in Mawson, including doing what prosecutor James Melloy said was a “high-speed turn in reverse into Mawson Place”. He also travelled on the wrong side of the road.

When officers found and tried to speak to him on 13 April, he fled from them over a back fence.

Bradbery then attacked the cyclist.

At about 5:00 pm on 22 April 2020, he was driving a motorbike on a path near Melrose High School when a cyclist yelled that he wasn’t allowed to be on the path so should get off it.

As they passed, Bradbery tried to punch the man. They stopped and yelled at each other, then the cyclist kept riding.

But Bradbery came back, overtook the cyclist, then turned around and rode directly into him.

They crashed and the cyclist received minor injuries. Bradbery tried to hit the man with his helmet, so the cyclist tackled him to the ground to restrain him until police arrived.

While they waited, Bradbery told him he was in pain, so the cyclist loosened his grip. In response, Bradbery kicked him in the face.

Then, on 24 May 2020, police issued an alert for officers to stop a station wagon last seen in Mawson which would be discovered to have been driven by Bradbery.

Police saw the car on Erindale Drive at about 10:45 am, and he fled from them at speeds of up to 110 km/h in an 80 km/h zone.

On 14 August 2020, he was seen in the driver’s seat of a stolen Holden Cruze outside Capital Chemist in Charnwood.

He fled from police, driving over a tyre deflation device before driving from the area. Soon afterwards, the car was found damaged and abandoned in Flynn.

A later search of Bradbery’s phone found he had sent videos of himself driving the stolen Cruze to another person.

The last incident was on 24 January 2021 when police saw a station wagon in Belconnen driving through a red light to escape them.

Shortly later, three people were seen walking near the parked car. When police tried to stop them, one person, Bradbery, ran away, but was caught when he ran into a dead-end stairwell.

On Wednesday, Bradbury’s lawyer, Gabrielle Knight of the Andrew Byrnes Law Group, said her client had spent six months and six days in custody, during which he had completed a barber’s course, which provided him an avenue for employment.

She said her client had used drugs, starting at a young age and they were a common denominator in all of his crimes, describing it as a “toxic cycle” of drug use and offending.

However, she said he was now on the path of rehabilitation and was remorseful, particularly for the assault.

But Magistrate Beth Campbell described Bradbury’s driving offences as “critically dangerous” and “potentially lethal conduct”.

“The reality is you and motor vehicles don’t get on, either yours or somebody else’s,” she told him.

“You’ve been a real menace on the road.”

She sentenced him to three years and four months’ jail with a non-parole period of two years which means he is eligible for release in January 2023.

She also fined him $9500 and disqualified him from driving for about 19 years.