STATE OF TASMANIA v CARL ANTHONY JOHN MUNDAY 18 DECEMBER 2025
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE JAGO J
Mr Munday, you have pleaded guilty to one count of committing an unlawful act intended to cause bodily harm, and one count of Criminal Code assault. The crimes were committed on 9 January 2022. The victim of your crimes was Eugene Planeta.
The background to your crimes is as follows. You and Mr Planeta had met at a parenting course. In October 2021, Mr Planeta had moved into your residence, in [address redacted] for a period. He had brought with him tools and equipment relating to his tiling business. Before January 2022, Mr Planeta had moved out but left many of his tools and equipment at your residence. He attended your home on 9 January, demanding that you assist him in relocating his tools and equipment. He had been drinking alcohol. I accept he was behaving in a difficult and aggressive manner.
Mr Planeta threatened to fight you if you did not assist him in relocating his tools and equipment. He also made derogatory comments about you and your son, who was aged 12. Your son heard these comments, and he became upset and scared. He retreated to his bedroom. You told Mr Planeta to leave. He refused to do so. You telephoned police seeking assistance to have him removed from your premises. I have listened to the recording of that triple zero call. It is obvious that you were frustrated with Mr Planeta’s behaviour, and you wanted him to leave. Mr Planeta can be heard in the background. It is apparent that he was behaving belligerently.
Concerned, you and your son left the residence and went to the front of the house where your car was parked. You were intending to leave. Mr Planeta followed, collecting a red electrical safety switch as he went. You and your son got into your vehicle, a Toyota Hilux. You were revving the engine. As you went to drive off, Mr Planeta swung the safety switch so that it struck and smashed the windscreen. Glass shattered over you and your son. In response, you drove your vehicle towards Mr Planeta, pinning him against a wheelie bin. It seems each of you engaged in the respective violence at this point because each of you believed that the other was going to assault them. The State accept that they could not prove that your conduct, up until this point, was not carried out in lawful self-defence.
Mr Planeta then ran away. He jumped over the fence into a neighbouring property and ran towards the Kit Kat Café via a carpark. You were still in your vehicle. You drove towards Mr Planeta, yelling “I want to kill you, you piece of shit”. You drove directly towards him, sideswiping another vehicle as you did so. You struck Mr Planeta with your vehicle, and he was propelled up onto the bonnet of your vehicle and then forwards onto the roadway of Tarleton Road. Your vehicle then collided with a garbage bin and came to a stop. Mr Planeta was lying on the ground. You got out of your vehicle and moved towards him. You punched him to the head and body several times as he lay on the ground. Nearby members of the public intervened and restrained you.
Police and ambulance were called. Police attended and arrested you. Whilst they were waiting for the ambulance, both you and Mr Planeta were screaming at each other and threatening to kill each other. The complainant was taken to the Northwest Regional Hospital. When examined, he had fractures to the 1st and 2nd lumbar vertebrae, tenderness to the left lower chest with associated bruising, abrasions to both knees and a small laceration on his left shin. The vertebrae fractures were stable and did not threaten the spinal cord or nerves. The injuries were treated conservatively, and it was anticipated they would heal with time.
Subsequent accident investigations undertaken at the scene revealed no evidence of any pre-impact braking and it was calculated that at the point of impact with Mr Planeta, your vehicle was travelling at approximately 30-40 kilometres per hour.
You were interviewed the following day. You told police that Mr Planeta had upset your son and had been wanting to fight you. You said you had asked him to leave, but he would not do so. You also said that he was very drunk. You told police that you had rung triple zero because Mr Planeta would not leave and just wanted to fight you. You said he had threatened you, saying that both you and your son would be “dead men”. You told police that you tried to leave by getting into your vehicle, but Mr Planeta had smashed the windscreen with the item in his hand and had then come around to your son’s side of the vehicle, also trying to smash the window there. You said that you “freaked out”, you were scared for your son’s safety, and you were scared for yourself. You told police that Mr Planeta was being an “absolute idiot” and it just “set you off”, you chased him down and hit him with your Ute. You said you were not trying to do anything more than injure him.
The complainant has been badly affected by your crimes. He continues to experience considerable pain, which has limited his ability to resume his occupation as a tiler. He continues to require physiotherapy. As at March 2022, he was only functioning at about 50% of his normal capacity. It is unlikely he will ever be able to return to physically intense employment. Additionally, he has been impacted psychologically. He experiences anxiety and is frightened by the sounds of large engines. When the incident occurred, he believed he might die.
You are 53 years of age. You have several prior convictions for driving offences, including 25 prior convictions for speeding, three prior convictions for driving without due care and attention, and one prior conviction for failing to have proper control of your motor vehicle. It does appear as though you have something of a cavalier attitude in terms of your responsibilities as a driver. You have a number of health issues and are in receipt of a Disability Pension. You suffer from an intellectual impairment, with significant cognitive deficits in processing and understanding information, and emotional regulation. You also have an acquired brain injury and are an amputee as a result of a motor vehicle accident which occurred when you were 18 years of age. In that accident, you suffered a major head injury, and you also lost a leg. You now walk with a prosthesis. That continues to cause pain for you on occasion. I am told that the onset of pain can often be without warning and can be severe when it arrives.
You experienced a terrible upbringing. Your father was very violent to the extent he would often discipline you by threatening you with a firearm. Your father was a heavy user of alcohol and was commonly angry and violent within the home. Your family was poor, with any money earnt being spent on your father’s alcohol and gambling addictions. You were also exposed to sexual abuse as a child. The one positive from your childhood was your mother, with whom you continue to enjoy a good relationship. Schooling was difficult for you, most likely because of your intellectual impairment, and you were bullied badly at school. Since leaving school, you have engaged in a number of casual, labour based forms of employment.
I have received a forensic psychological report in respect to you. It indicates a global intellectual functioning in the borderline range, but because of the complications flowing from your acquired brain injury, in some areas of cognitive assessment, you are functioning in the extremely low range. It confirms that because of your acquired brain injury, your attention and concentration span is limited, and you are prone to disinhibited and impulsive behaviour. In Dr O’Donnell’s opinion, there is a causal link between your acquired brain injury and the offending. The nature and extent of your neurological and psychological impairments reduces your ability to exercise appropriate judgment, and make calm and rational choices, and increases your tendency towards disinhibited behaviours when under stress.
Here, I accept that Mr Planeta’s behaviour, to begin with at least, was provocative. He had attended at your residence intoxicated. He had demanded you assist him in relocating tools and equipment that he had left there. He made derogatory comments about you and your son. He said he wanted to fight you. When you left the residence and entered your vehicle, he struck it with the electrical safety switch, causing the window to shatter and glass to fly onto your son. Certainly, at this point it can be accepted that you were fearful, and your focus was on protecting your son. But after the interaction that occurred on the front lawn, Mr Planeta left. He ran from the yard. The situation should have come to an end then, but instead, you responded by driving your vehicle onto the roadway, and around a corner in pursuit of the complainant. You drove a large vehicle directly at him and struck him with it. Not content with leaving it at that, you exited your vehicle and proceeded to punch Mr Planeta. Irrespective of how this incident may have started, your conduct was serious, dangerous and criminal.
Whilst I accept that you were in a heightened, emotional state because of Mr Planeta’s initial behaviour, that does not justify your subsequent actions. The latter part of this incident was clearly driven by anger and frustration, not a desire to protect yourself or your son. I accept that once you had reached an elevated state of emotion, your acquired brain injury makes it more likely that you would continue to behave in a disinhibited manner and makes it more difficult for you to de-escalate. To that end, I accept that your moral culpability is reduced somewhat. The fact is, however, that what you did was terribly dangerous. You used a motor vehicle as a weapon. You followed Mr Planeta from your home and ran him down. You then jumped out of your vehicle and punched him to the head whilst he was hurt and vulnerable on the ground. It is most fortunate indeed, in my view, that Mr Planeta did not sustain more serious injuries.
I take into account your plea of guilty in respect to these matters. It did not come at an early stage. The complainant was required to give evidence a preliminary proceeding, and your son was required to give evidence during a special hearing. Your plea of guilty nevertheless retains some utilitarian value.
I accept because of your intellectual impairment, your acquired brain injury, and your physical disability, that the prison environment is likely to be more difficult for you. You will be vulnerable within that environment.
A crime contrary to s170 of the Criminal Code generally justifies a sentence of imprisonment of between three and seven years. Sentencing principles of general deterrence, denunciation and vindication of victims are paramount. You and others in the community need to understand that acting in this way – out of anger and frustration – cannot be tolerated. Not only was your driving a danger to Mr Planeta, but there were members of the public in the area also, who were at risk from your driving. Witnessing this incident would undoubtedly have been a confronting experience for them.
Taking all matters into account, the only appropriate sentence is a significant term of imprisonment.
You are convicted of all matters to which you have pleaded guilty. I impose one sentence. You are sentenced to imprisonment for a period of three years and nine months, backdated to commence on 5 December 2025. Given your limited history of violence, it is appropriate that you should have the opportunity for parole at the earliest point. Accordingly, I make an order that you not be eligible for parole until you have served one-half of the sentence.
I make a compensation order in favour of Eugene Planeta in an amount to be assessed. I decline to make a disqualification order given you were required to surrender your licence following this incident.
I make an order discharging you in respect to count 1 on Indictment 239/2024.