A man who described as "a nasty piece of work when he is on drugs" was found with ice in his possession when police intercepted the bus taking him to a North-West detoxification centre, the Launceston Magistrates Court heard.
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Jay Allan Charles Reed, of Ravenswood, pleaded guilty to an extended crime spree despite being on a drug treatment order which aimed to keep him out of jail as long as he stayed off drugs.
He was sentenced to a total of 20 months' jail, backdated to May 5, 2021.
Reed was on the way to the drug treatment centre at Serenity House at Sulphur Creek when he was arrested by police, after allowing his electronic bracelet go flat.
Police found a small ziplock bag of ice and a glass smoking pipe.
Police prosecutor Andrew Gillard read facts on a large number of offences including breach of family violence orders, destroy property, stealing, assault, drug charges, motor vehicle stealing and driving charges.
The court heard that Reed was the subject of family violence orders in relation to three women. On April 11, 2021 Reed punched a woman who was pregnant with his child in the stomach.
"The unborn child was not hurt," Mr Gillard told Magistrate Sharon Cure. On April 14 Reed entered the woman's home angry that she had "set him up".
He kicked a mirror worth $300 causing it to smash, punched a television worth $1100. The woman involved said that Reed had paid "for everything" the next day.
In November 2020 Reed, a disqualified driver, was driving a Ford Ranger at Ravenswood when police sought to intercept him.
He drove at speeds of up to 114km/h while evading police through a large number of streets.
The court heard that Reed was wearing his electronic monitoring bracelet at the time.
While police hoped they could use the device to calculate his speed the court heard that the readings were not admissible.
In sentencing Ms Cure cancelled the August 2020 drug treatment order which triggered a 12 month jail sentence.
A previous application for cancellation in March 2021, halfway through Reed's crime spree, had been dismissed.
Defence counsel Fran McCracken conceded that Reed had a poor history in relation to family violence including a second woman with whom he had a child.
"His issues are reoffending and continued drug use," Ms McCracken said.
Ms Cure said the evasion was serious and handed down a six month jail sentence.
"I think in some ways I have been quite merciful that was a really serious evade which could have been 12 months alone," she said.
In discussion of family violence offending Ms Cure remarked "when he's on drugs he's a nasty piece of work and he knows that".
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Nick Clark
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
