STATE OF TASMANIA v ADAM DWAYNE SCHULTZ 18 AUGUST 2026
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE JAGO J
Adam Dwayne Schultz, you have pleaded guilty to one count of dangerous driving, contrary to s 172A of the Criminal Code and related summary offences, committed on the same day namely: evade police (aggravated circumstances); three counts of breach of bail requirements; and one count of drive whilst disqualified.
As of 17 January 2025, you were subject to several bail conditions that had been imposed in the Hobart Magistrates Court in respect to a number of summary offences. They included a condition that you not be absent from your address between the hours of 7:00am and 10:00pm unless you were in the company of your surety; that you must report to a person at the Bridgewater police station every Monday, Wednesday and Friday; and that you must not drive a motor vehicle or be found behind the controls of a motor vehicle. As of 17 January 2025, you were also subject to a Court ordered licence disqualification, which was due to expire on 16 March 2025.
Shortly after 2:00pm on 17 January 2025, police received a notification from a Mr Donaghy which indicated you were driving a motor vehicle and acting in a bizarre manner. Mr Donaghy provided a description of the motor vehicle you were driving to police, together with the registration details. Police started looking for the vehicle in the Kingston area. They observed the vehicle travelling on Redwood Road. Police conducted a U-turn and began to follow the vehicle. It sped up and police lost sight of it. You were the driver of the vehicle. You were not accompanied by your surety at the time. Shortly after, two other police officers in a marked police car came to assist. They observed your vehicle turn onto Redwood Road and travel towards them. They activated lights and sirens. Your vehicle turned left into Saffron Street and drove at an excessive speed through a residential area. You drove away from police. This constitutes the offence of evade police. The circumstance of aggravation was the fact you were disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence at the time.
At this point, police did not pursue your vehicle but rather took up strategic positions in the immediate area. Shortly after, your vehicle was again seen travelling along Kingfisher Street. The vehicle turned left into Lorikeet Street at excessive speed. Police followed the vehicle to maintain observations. You were observed to turn left into Redwood Road and then drive at excessive speed (estimated to be 90 kph in a 50 kph zone) towards the Channel Highway. On Redwood Road, your vehicle briefly crossed on to the incorrect side of the road to pass a vehicle, which was parked on the left-hand side of the road. Subsequently, the use of road spikes was authorised and two officers drove to the Southern Outlet to establish a deployment point, just north of the Firthside ramp.
At 2:24pm, your vehicle was again observed, this time travelling in the right-hand lane of the Southern Outlet towards Hobart. The road spikes were deployed, but as your vehicle passed by, you swerved to avoid the spikes. In so doing, you swerved into the left-hand lane and cut off another vehicle. You then proceeded to drive at speed, changing lanes regularly as you manoeuvred through heavy traffic. A civilian who was travelling in a vehicle towards Hobart, was sufficiently concerned that she started recording your actions on her mobile phone. Your vehicle can be seen overtaking a car in the left lane by driving onto the verge on the highway. You then continue driving in a manner whereby you are consistently changing lanes without indicating, through medium density traffic.
A further road spike deployment point was established on the off ramp at Tolmans Hill. Officers observed your vehicle approaching this deployment point. Your vehicle was observed to tailgate another vehicle in the left lane of the Southern Outlet before veering onto the off ramp. As the spikes were deployed, you accelerated harshly and attempted to turn left to avoid the spikes but instead mounted the inner kerb of the roadway and overtook the car in front of you, narrowly missing that vehicle, which was forced to stop to avoid a collision. Your endeavour to avoid the spikes was ultimately unsuccessful and your tyres were punctured. You nevertheless continued to drive your vehicle on punctured tyres, towards Woodcutters Road in Tollmans Hill. A short time later, police located your vehicle, abandoned in a section of Woodcutters Road. Police were advised by members of the public that you had been seen running north into bushland, behind houses at the end of a cul-de-sac.
Police searched for you and a short time later; you were found hiding in a chicken coop in a nearby property. You were arrested and taken to the Hobart police station. You were interviewed. You admitted to police that you had been driving the vehicle. You also admitted that you had been using drugs that day and were under the influence of such substances. You told police that initially you had been driving with your girlfriend and her father, but you had an argument with your girlfriend, and at some point, your girlfriend had exited the vehicle. You said you were driving around the Kingston area looking for her. You claimed you did not remember much of your driving behaviour. You said you did not recall police trying to intercept you. You suggested you had “blacked out” because of the drugs that you had been using. When asked as to why you had left the vehicle in Woodcutters Road and fled, you claimed that you did not really recall it but said you had been “doing a lot of crazy shit lately”.
Following the interview, you were remanded in custody. You remained in custody until 17 March 2025.
The total distance you travelled was in excess of 15 kilometres. You were driving through residential areas at excessive speeds. You were overtaking vehicles and changing lanes in a manner that was unsafe on the Southern Outlet, including by overtaking on the inside verge, when traffic flow was heavy to moderate. You were tailgating vehicles. You drove your vehicle over road spikes and then continued to drive it when you could not have had proper control of the vehicle, and at one point, you drove along the kerb and up onto the edge of the road on the Southern Outlet. The risks associated with your driving hardly need to be stated.
You have a number of relevant prior convictions. You have a record of offending in this State, as well as in New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. You have many prior convictions for driving offences, including being convicted of dangerous driving in 2004, 2011 and 2018. The first two instances were dealt with in the Magistrates Court, but in 2018, you were sentenced for the crime of dangerous driving and evade police in this Court to six months’ imprisonment in respect to the evade police charge, and 21 months’ imprisonment in respect to the crime of dangerous driving and some other miscellaneous summary matters.
Since that sentence was imposed, you have been back before the Magistrates Court for many offences, including offences of dishonesty, and further driving offences, including driving whilst disqualified and evading police (aggravated circumstances). In March 2022, you were sentenced by the Magistrates Court for offences of evading police and driving whilst disqualified to a two-month period of imprisonment, the execution of which was wholly suspended. You breached that sentence and as far as I can tell from your record of prior convictions, in April 2023, it was somehow subsumed into a Drug Treatment Order that was imposed for a large number of offences of dishonesty and some further driving offences. You successfully completed the Drug Treatment Order, although it seems your abstinence from illicit substances did not last long as these crimes and offences were committed within eight months of your graduation from that programme.
You are now 41 years of age. You have a child. You endured a terrible upbringing. Both your parents were intravenous drug users. Your early childhood consisted of maltreatment and neglect. When you were about seven, your biological parents abandoned you and you were raised by your maternal grandparents. You were regularly sexually abused by your grandmother, who took photographs of some of the abuse and then used them to coerce your silence. When you tried to complain to your grandfather you were physically assaulted by him. Your home life was very chaotic, and you experienced emotional, sexual and physical abuse throughout the main of your teenage years. School was no better for you. You were badly bullied at school and because of your difficult family life, your schooling was very disrupted.
When you were 16, your biological father was murdered. Around the same time, you left your grandparents’ care and went to live with an uncle. You were introduced to illicit substances, and drug use has largely characterised your life ever since. Your extensive criminal record is reflective of that. When you were about 25 and serving a prison sentence, you were attacked by a number of prisoners. The attack was both physical and sexual. This aggravated a number of pre-existing mental health issues. During periods in custody, you have endeavoured to obtain assistance for both your drug addiction and your mental health difficulties, but the assistance available has been very limited.
I am told that following the commission of these crimes and your release from custody, you realised there was a need to make substantial changes, or your life would continue to be a revolving door of crime and incarceration. You relocated from Hobart to the Northwest Coast to make a clean start. You entered residential rehabilitation at Serenity House and then Missiondale. You successfully completed programmes at both facilities and since then have maintained ongoing counselling with YFCC. I am told that you have now been drug free for over 12 months. I have seen evidence of testing to confirm the same. In addition, you have undertaken psychological counselling in an endeavour to address symptoms of past trauma. I have been provided with a letter from Paul Campbell, Forensic Psychologist, which indicates you have engaged well in such counselling and have shown commitment to developing a range of strategies to address your past offending and the underlying causal factors. Importantly, you have also formed a new relationship with a partner who is committed to helping you maintain your abstinence from drugs and live a positive crime free lifestyle. You have obtained employment. You have been working as a warehouse operator for the past 12 months. You and your partner plan to marry and you are saving to buy a house.
Because of the apparent positive changes you have made in recent times, I had you assessed as to your suitability for home detention. The report, in my view, is very positive. It indicates that you are committed to your relationship and willingly take on care responsibilities for your partner’s children. You are determined to remain drug free and recognise the positive impact being free from drugs has had on your mental health. You are working with Child Services and spending time with your daughter. The report also confirms your employment and suggests you are doing well in that regard. It indicates that you have reflected upon your past criminal behaviours and now view them with “disgust and shame”. You are committed to maintaining the changes you have made and recognise that you must be vigilant about your choices if you are to maintain the improvements.
I am satisfied that there is strong evidence of rehabilitation, but that, of course, must be balanced against the fact that this was a very serious incident of dangerous driving, and it is not the first time you have driven in a dangerous manner on the roads. This incident went on for some time. It occurred in a residential area and on a very busy outlet road. There was high risk to other road users, as evidenced by the fact that in one instance, another motorist had to take evasive action to avoid a collision. Significant police resources were deployed to bring your driving to an end. All of this is aggravated by the fact that you should not have been driving at all because you were disqualified and, of course, you were under the influence of illicit substances, thereby increasing the danger to yourself and others. In my view, you displayed a selfish disregard for the clear danger that you presented to other road users. It is most fortunate that a serious accident or tragedy did not eventuate.
General deterrence is obviously a most important sentencing consideration and ordinarily, particularly given your lengthy record of relevant criminal offending, a substantial term of actual imprisonment would be imposed for driving behaviour of this nature. Here, however, the evidence of rehabilitation is strong. You have addressed your use of illicit substances. You have obtained employment. You have relocated to a different area of the State, and it seems your lifestyle has stabilised considerably. You are in a supportive and positive relationship, and your partner is prepared to assist and encourage you to maintain your new attitude. You have been assessed as eligible for home detention.
With some hesitation, I have decided it is appropriate to impose a Home Detention Order and allow you to remain in the community and continue with the positive endeavours that you have made over the last 18 months. In some ways, this is a lenient sentence but given your appalling background and your history of disadvantage, I am of the view that your efforts at turning your life around should be acknowledged. You have demonstrated the willingness to change and reform, and I consider returning you to prison carries the risk of undermining some of those positive changes. I am satisfied relevant sentencing aims can be achieved through the imposition of a Home Detention Order which involves a significant curtailment of your liberty.
Mr Schultz, you must clearly understand that a Home Detention Order is a type of imprisonment. It is imprisonment within your own home. If you breach the conditions of the Home Detention Order I impose upon you, the consequences will be most serious. The Home Detention Order can be cancelled and a sentence of imprisonment substituted. Given your history of prior criminal offending, that is almost an inevitable outcome in my view, if you do not take up this opportunity that is now being offered to you.
I make the following orders. I record convictions in respect to all crimes and offences to which you have pleaded guilty. In respect to the three counts of breach of bail, I make no further order. In respect to the offence of evade police (aggravated circumstances), I impose a period of imprisonment of two months, backdated to commence on 17 June 2026. You have, therefore, served that period of imprisonment. On that matter, you are disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for a period of two years, commencing 17 March 2025. In respect to all other matters, I impose a single sentence. I impose a Home Detention Order of 15 months. The terms of the Home Detention Order will be set out in a written document that will be provided to you. The Home Detention Order will take affect from today.
The core conditions of the Home Detention Order will apply during the whole of the 15 month period of the order and will include the following: you must not commit an offence that is punishable by imprisonment; you must remain at the home detention premises of [address redacted], at all times except between the hours of 6:00am to 6:00pm Monday to Friday, or unless your absence is otherwise approved by a probation officer; you must for the duration of the operational period of the order, submit to electronic monitoring and have any electronic monitoring device fitted and comply with reasonable and lawful directions given to you with respect to such monitoring.
There are also special conditions that attach to the Home Detention Order. They are:
- You must permit a probation officer, a police officer, or other prescribed officer to enter those premises.
- You must permit a police officer to conduct a search of the premises, conduct a frisk search of you and take a sample of any substance found on the premises or on your person.
- You must submit to electronic monitoring, including the wearing or carrying of an electronic monitoring device.
- You must not remove, tamper with, damage, disable or interfere with the proper functioning of that device or equipment used for the purpose of electronic monitoring.
- You must not allow anyone else to remove, tamper with, damage, disable or interfere with the proper functioning of that device or equipment used for the purpose of electronic monitoring.
- You must comply with all reasonable and lawful directions given to you in relation to the electronic monitoring device, including directions relating to the installation, attachment or operation of the device.
- You must maintain in operating condition an active mobile phone service, provide the contact details to Community Corrections and be accessible for contact through that device at all times.
- You must not take any illicit or prohibited substances.
- You must not take any medication containing an opiate, benzodiazepine, buprenorphine, hydrochloride or pseudoephedrine unless you provide written evidence from your medical practitioner that you have been prescribed that medication.
- You must not during the operational period of the order consume alcohol and you must, if directed to do so by a police officer, or community corrections officer, submit to a breath test, urine test or other test for the presence of alcohol.
- You must submit to the supervision of a Community Corrections Officer as and when required by that Officer.
I order that you must attend the Community Corrections office at Reece House, Burnie by 10:00am tomorrow for induction in respect to this order. In respect to the dangerous driving and drive whilst disqualified charges, I impose a period of licence disqualification of two years, commencing today.