"I SHOULD not have pulled over," a truck driver has told Bathurst Local Court as he pleaded guilty to the elements of an instance of common assault by the side of Sydney Road.
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The man was not convicted, but received a lengthy court order of 15 months as the magistrate told him there was no excuse for him to conduct himself "in that way".
The driver told the court he disputed elements of the version of events given about the lead-up to the incident and the incident itself at Kelso.
The police documents provide two versions of the incident: as described by the victim in the matter and then as described by the driver when he was interviewed by police.
James Ethen Culley, 33, of Streatfeild Close, Blayney, appeared in person in the court on Wednesday, February 5, 2025.
Police documents before the court said the victim in the matter was travelling east on Sydney Road, Kelso at about noon on Tuesday, June 4, 2024 when he entered the roundabout in the inside lane at the intersection with Littlebourne Street.
He made a complete turn on the roundabout, coming back onto Sydney Road facing west.
As he was about to exit the roundabout, a white prime mover truck entered the roundabout from Littlebourne Street, turning left in the outside lane, according to the police documents.
The victim said the truck entered the roundabout at speed and he feared it would enter his lane due to its speed, so he sounded his horn.
Both vehicles exited the roundabout and the truck pulled into the left shoulder of the road, waving the victim to go past, according to the police documents.
The victim merged into the left lane and then pulled into the driveway of a business approximately 250 metres down the road.
As the victim parked his vehicle in the car park, he saw the truck pull up out the front, according to the police documents.
He got out of his car and saw Culley, the driver of the truck, walking towards him.
Culley appeared angry and started yelling at the victim, according to the police documents.
They argued about the incident that occurred on the roundabout and the victim walked away towards the shop, calling the driver a "retard", according to the police documents.
Culley followed the victim, telling the victim to "say it to my face", and the victim said "you need to walk away".
The victim said this multiple times, according to the police documents, but realised Culley was not going to walk away, so walked back toward the road.
The victim took a photo of the registration on the back of the truck and Culley followed the victim and asked him why he was taking photos.
"Because I'm going to be reporting this," the victim said, according to the police documents.
The victim also took photos of the business sign on the passenger door.
Culley snatched the phone from the victim's hand and held it up in the air away from the victim, according to the police documents.
With his right hand, Culley grabbed the victim by the front of his clothes, trying to stop the victim from taking his phone back.
The victim grabbed on to Culley's wrist, and Culley, with his right hand, pushed the victim to the ground.
Culley pinned the victim down for 10 to 15 seconds, according to the police documents.
The victim eventually managed to get the phone from Culley and Culley let go of the victim and he got back to his feet.
Culley told the victim he needed to walk away and the victim said he had walked away, but "you followed me", according to the police documents.
The victim walked back to the car park and Culley walked back to his truck.
As a result of the altercation, the victim sustained a graze to the knuckle of his right hand little finger and a graze to the knuckle of his left hand middle finger.
The victim realised the screen of his phone was not working and he could no longer access the photos he took of the truck, but he had noted the registration.
The victim attended Bathurst Police Station at about 2pm and provided a statement and a photograph of his hands.
On June 24, 2024, police obtained a witness statement from the owner of the business on Sydney Road where Culley and the victim's altercation had occurred.
He said he saw two males in a scuffle on the driveway, according to the police documents.
The witness told police one man was on the ground being attacked by another man, who was standing over him and holding up his fist as if he was threatening to punch the other man.
He said the man who was on the ground later came into the shop and said he wasn't punched, but tried taking photos of the truck and the truck driver took his phone and it was damaged in the scuffle.
Police contacted the business that is the registered owner of the truck and the driver that day was identified.
About 5.30pm on Sunday, October 6, 2024, police said they spoke with Culley and he took part in an electronically recorded interview.
He provided his own version of events.
Culley said he had been cut off by the victim at the intersection of Littlebourne and Sydney Road, Kelso before the victim stuck his finger up at Culley.
He conceded he shouldn't have stopped at the Sydney Road business, but felt the victim needed to be educated not to change lanes in a roundabout, particularly when that lane is occupied by a heavy vehicle, according to the police documents.
Culley told police the victim called him a "retard" and the conversation became heated between the two of them.
He described the victim's attitude towards him as "arrogant".
Culley said the victim started taking photos of his truck, which Culley did not interrupt, but when the victim "stuck the phone" in Culley's face, taking photos of him, he told the victim to "stop, I'll tell you who I am", but the victim continued.
It was at this time that Culley said he snatched the phone, but he said he did not recall doing anything to the phone that would cause it damage.
When he snatched the phone, Culley said he saw the victim swing his arm towards him.
Believing he was going to be hit, Culley said he grabbed the victim by the shirt and conducted a "leg sweep" and eased him down to the ground to prevent injury, according to the police documents.
Culley said the victim "kept flailing his arms" and he thought the victim was trying to hit him.
When the victim stopped flailing, Culley said he let him up.
In court
Culley was unrepresented when he appeared in Bathurst Local Court, where he said he wanted to contest some of the police details.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Cameron Ferrier, having spoken with Culley, told Magistrate Gemma Slack-Smith that the context provided by the victim and Culley were different, but "I think a plea can be done on these facts".
Culley told Ms Slack-Smith that he had allowed the victim to take photos of his vehicle, but that the victim had put his phone in Culley's face.
"At the end of the day, I should not have pulled over," he said.
"I should have kept driving."
He said it was never his intention to be physically violent to the victim and he did not mean to cause any harm to him.
Sergeant Ferrier told Ms Slack-Smith that Culley was before the court with a clean record and said there was context to the incident, but "in my view, there seemed to be no provocation whatsoever".
It had not been just a "one-second momentary lapse", Sergeant Ferrier said, and the question for the court was whether to convict or not.
Ms Slack-Smith said Culley had pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity, which entitled him to a discount on his sentence.
She said she had noted the disagreement when it came to the details of the incident, but said it was a "serious matter" and it came close to the definition of a road rage incident.
Even if the victim had pulled in front of Culley, it was "no excuse to conduct yourself in that way", Ms Slack-Smith said.
"You could have continued to drive and ignored him," she said.
Ms Slack-Smith noted Culley's otherwise good character as she imposed a 15-month Conditional Release Order (used to deal with first time and less serious offences where the offender is unlikely to present a risk to the community.) without conviction.
"I'm of the view that you have good prospects of rehabilitation and don't expect that we will see you before the court again," she told Culley.
