Ice addict who slammed into paraplegic will spend just ONE WEEK in jail over wheelchair hit-and-run

‘I freaked out’: Ice addict who mowed down a paraplegic in a rental car will spend just ONE WEEK in jail over the horrific wheelchair hit-and-run

  • A drug addict who ran down a man in a wheelchair has been jailed for one week 
  • Jake Pedersen, 24, was sentenced to 40 days’ jail but has already served 33 days
  • He pleaded guilty to hitting Judeland Antony, but said he initially didn’t realise it 
  • Pedersen, a learner driver, also said he recently relapsed into a meth addiction 

An ice addict who ploughed a rental car into a man in a wheelchair and then left him for dead will only spend one week behind bars.  

Jake Pedersen, 24, was sentenced to 40 days’ jail on Tuesday, but with time already detained, will only serve seven days and complete a community corrections order.

Pedersen previously pleaded guilty to hitting Judeland Antony as he attempted to cross Bourke Rd in Docklands in Melbourne’s inner-west on October 30.

Jake Pedersen, 24 (pictured), was sentenced to 40 days’ jail on Tuesday, but with time already served, will only serve seven days and complete a community corrections order

Pedersen (pictured left and right), said he was deeply remorseful for the incident and claimed he handed himself into police on November 5 after he learned of the hit-run on the news

But when the 24-year-old fronted court on Tuesday, he claimed he didn’t realise he’d hit Mr Antony, who suffered serious injuries as a result, the Herald Sun reported. 

Pedersen, a learner driver who rented the car-share vehicle using a colleague’s papers, told the court he was sorry and had recently relapsed into a meth addiction. 

He said he was deeply remorseful for the incident and claimed he handed himself into police on November 5 after he learned of the hit-and-run on the news. 

‘I freaked out … I didn’t know what I’d hit,’ Pedersen said.

But police prosecutor Sergeant Geoff Adams told the court the 24-year-old’s actions were suggestive of someone who had a ‘guilty mind’.

Sergeant Adams said CCTV footage captured at the scene showed Mr Antony’s wheelchair clearly mount the rental car’s bonnet in front of the driver’s vision.

He said immediately after the collision, Pedersen then fled the scene and ran two red lights, before he dumped the car in Latrobe St, where a witness confronted him. 

Mr Antony, 33, who was thrown from his wheelchair, suffered a broken pelvis, broken hand and a spinal cord injury as a result of the hit-and-run. 

Judeland Antony, 33 (pictured), who was thrown from his wheelchair, suffered a broken pelvis, broken hand and a spinal cord injury as a result of the hit-run

‘You knew you hit a person, that’s why you drove off. And it’s even worse, you drove through red lights to get away,’ Sergt Adams said.

The sergeant suggested the 24-year-old’s actions following the incident were intentional to ‘save your own neck’.

When handing down his sentence on Tuesday, Magistrate Graham Keil said it was ultimately Pedersen’s responsibility to be mindful of other road users. 

‘It might have been the other road user’s fault (but) the fact is that you are culpable,’ Magistrate Keil said. 

In addition to jail time, Pedersen was also disqualified from driving for 24 months.   

Pedersen, a learner driver who rented the car-share vehicle using a colleague's papers, claimed he didn't realise he'd hit Mr Antony (pictured on the ground)

Pedersen, a learner driver who rented the car-share vehicle using a colleague’s papers, claimed he didn’t realise he’d hit Mr Antony (pictured on the ground)

Sergeant Adams said CCTV footage captured at the scene showed Mr Antony's wheelchair clearly mount the rental car's (pictured) bonnet in front of the driver's vision

Sergeant Adams said CCTV footage captured at the scene showed Mr Antony’s wheelchair clearly mount the rental car’s (pictured) bonnet in front of the driver’s vision

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk