1 week Ago By Sam Rigney
A MAN on parole for stabbing a young woman with a pair of scissors during a domestic violence attack at Lambton in 2018 has been jailed for a maximum of 20 months after he led police on pursuit that ended when he crashed and rolled his car into a business at Hamilton South. Login or signup to continue reading Learner driver Mitchell Sutton, now 30, was trapped inside the Toyota Aurion on its side and police watched as he started stomping his feet on the door, quickly realising he was attempting to destroy about nine grams of methamphetamine. Sutton, whose upbringing was so tragic and profoundly disadvantaged that he told a psychiatrist growing up was worse than being in an adult jail, had pleaded guilty to police pursuit, supplying methamphetamine and possession of a firearm silencer.
The court heard Sutton suffered an "extraordinarily difficult childhood" which created " an impossible starting point". "The history that he endured as a child is one of profound deprivation on anyone's scale of deprivation and profoundness," Judge Peter McGrath said on Friday. Judge McGrath took into account his troubled childhood and subsequent mental health issues and drug addiction when he jailed Sutton for a maximum of 20 months, with a non-parole period of 14 months.
The jail term means Sutton will be eligible for parole in January, 2025. Sutton was on parole, had only his learner's drivers license and was subject to a firearm and weapons prohibition order when he was spotted blowing through a stop sign in Fowler Street at Hamilton South about 9.20pm on July 11 last year.
Police followed him and watched as he again drove through a stop sign and turned into Glebe Road. Police tried to pull Sutton over when he got to Llewellyn Street, but he sped away and led them on a short pursuit through Merewether. He ran a red light and turned back onto Glebe Road and was doing about 90km/h when he entered the intersection of Stewart Avenue, crossing onto the wrong side of the road in an attempt to avoid traffic and crashing into a Kia Cerato.
The impact forced both cars onto the footpath, Sutton's car rolling onto its side and the other vehicle being pushed about 20 metres through a fence and careering into the front of Triggerpoint Natural Health Centre. The crash caused "substantial damage" to the front room of the business, according to court documents. Judge McGrath said on Friday that Sutton was fortunate the house was being used as a business, otherwise the two cars could have careered through someone's front bedroom.
Police stopped nearby, saw Sutton was inside and uninjured and then watched as he began stomping his feet on the inside of the door. Police later found nine grams of methamphetamine inside the car. Police used a sledgehammer to smash out the windscreen and extricate Sutton from the car before he was taken to hospital and later charged.
The next day police searched a house at Hamilton South where Sutton had been staying and found a black firearm silencer. Sutton was in 2019 jailed for a maximum of six years, with a non-parole period of three years and six months after he pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. He had admitted to using scissors to stab a woman multiple times to the ribs and neck area after attempting to choke her in the bedroom of a home at Lambton on April 11, 2018.
Sutton was eligible for release in October, 2021 and still had nine months to serve on parole when he was arrested over the pursuit and crash in July last year. Sam began his Newcastle Herald career as a night police reporter in 2011. He is an experienced court reporter who has won two national court reporting awards, including the Kennedy Award for Outstanding Court Reporting for his coverage of the Hunter's worst serial rapist.
Before working at the Herald, Sam was a sports journalist with the Maitland Mercury where he won awards for his coverage of the Newcastle Rugby League salary cap scandal. Sam is a Novocastrian born-and-bred. Sam began his Newcastle Herald career as a night police reporter in 2011.
He is an experienced court reporter who has won two national court reporting awards, including the Kennedy Award for Outstanding Court Reporting for his coverage of the Hunter's worst serial rapist. Before working at the Herald, Sam was a sports journalist with the Maitland Mercury where he won awards for his coverage of the Newcastle Rugby League salary cap scandal. Sam is a Novocastrian born-and-bred.
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