Angry motorist, 45, who 'drove for three kilometres with a man clinging to the bull bar' of his truck after a Christmas Day crash is jailed
- A man has been jailed after a Christmas Day road rage attack in Sydney in 2019
- Anthony Pasquale, 45, was sentenced to nine months in prison on Thursday
- Court heard he drove three kilometres with another man clinging to his bull bar
- Victim Vipin Aggarwal managed to get off the car after it stopped to make a turn
An enraged motorist who drove for three kilometres with a man clinging to the front bull bar of his four-wheel-drive ute has been jailed.
Shocking footage of the incident shows victim Vipin Aggarwal, 37, holding onto the front of the white Landcruiser as the vehicle speeds down a stretch of Sydney road at speeds of up to 80km/h.
The driver of the Toyota, Anthony Pasquale, 45, was involved in a nose-to-tail traffic collision with Mr Aggarwal's Camry sedan in Homebush at about noon on Christmas Day 2019.
Anthony Pasquale, 45, was sentenced to nine months in prison for the shocking road rage attack
Mr Aggarwal got out of his car to swap information and stood in front of the four-wheel-drive when he realised Pasquale was not going to exit his Landcruiser.
When Pasquale began to drive off Mr Aggarwal grabbed the bull bar in an attempt to stop him, however, he continued to drive away, Burwood Local Court heard on Thursday, according to News Corp.
Footage of the incident, captured by a passing motorist, was played in court and shows Mr Aggarwal, dressed in a t-shirt, shorts, and runners, clinging on to the bull bar with his feet just centimetres above the asphalt.
'What the f**k, he's dragging along the front,' the woman in the passenger seat of the passing car says in the footage
In the backseat the woman's distressed children could be heard screaming as they watch the incident unfold.
The family inside the car then followed the Landscruiser for the next two kilometres while they called police.
The video of the incident played in court on Thursday show Mr Aggarwal on the bull bar
Mr Aggarwal eventually collapsed after he managed to get off the bull bar when the Landcruiser stopped briefly to make a turn.
Police then arrested Pasquale at his Liberty Grove residence on Boxing Day.
He was charged with cause bodily harm by misconduct, negligent driving, driving recklessly and not giving particulars to another driver.
The negligent driving charge over the initial collision has since been dropped.
Pasquale pleaded guilty to the three remaining charges and was sentenced in Burwood Local Court on Thursday.
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The prosecutor said the manner in which Pasquale was driving the truck was dangerous to other road users.
'Even if there wasn't someone on the bonnet it would still be a risk to the public,' he told the court.
The video shows him veering from the far right lane to the far left lane on the stretch of highway.
His legal aid representative told the court Pasquale was being punished for 'what act occurred rather than what could have occurred.'
Vipin Aggarwal (pictured), 37, thought he was going to die after an alleged road rage incident on Christmas Day that saw him forced to cling for dear life to the front of a Toyota Landcruiser
She claimed Pasquale was concerned his car was blocking traffic after the collision which is why he drove off - though she admitted the footage was alarming considering what might have happened.
'I was already horrified reading the facts... There was very high risk of injury or death if that gentleman did not manage to hold on,' Magistrate Daniel Reiss said.
Mr Aggarwal suffered burns to his right elbow from the engine, a 5cm cut to his right knee, and grazing on his thigh.
He previously revealed to in an interview that he was terrified during the ordeal.
'If I lose my hands, even if the car doesn't kill me, the impact of falling on the road at that speed would definitely kill me,' Mr Aggarwal told 7News.
'He stopped for a split second, if I wouldn't have got off at that moment he would still have been driving me.
Magistrate Reiss said Pasquale's actions were 'vicious' and 'uncaring' and sentenced him to nine months prison.
He will be eligible for parole on October 1.
Magistrate Reiss said Pasquale's actions were 'vicious' and 'uncaring' and sentenced him to nine months prison
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