A RUTHERFORD man who watched as his son carjacked a disabled woman at Maitland pool before joining in and stealing her specially-modified vehicle could be out of jail by the end of the year.
Mark Creighton, 48, faced sentence proceedings in Newcastle District Court this week after pleading guilty to two charges relating to the theft of one vehicle and the attempted theft of another at Maitland on September 12 last year.
Mark Creighton was with his son, Jaxson Creighton, 25, outside Maitland railway station when Jaxson jumped behind the wheel of a car parked outside.
The driver had left the vehicle running while she got out briefly to greet a number of family members who had just arrived on the train when Jaxson got in, locked the doors and began revving the engine loudly.
Other cars and a taxi blocked the vehicle in and prevented Jaxson from driving away, while his father repeatedly told him to "get out" and, once the door was unlocked, pulled him out saying "come here you f---".
According to court documents, Jaxson and Mark then ran away and were chased by a man over the footbridge towards Maitland swimming pool.
It was there that a disabled woman and her support worker, both aged in their 60s, were getting into a car, again with the keys in the ignition, when Jaxson appeared and jumped into the driver's seat.
"What are you doing, mate?" Mark yelled. "What are you doing? There are people here."
He told him "don't reverse", but Jaxson did anyway, Mark having to push the women out of the way to avoid them being run over.
"If I had not been pulled backward, I am sure that both [the support worker] and I would have been run over," the woman said.
Mark ran after the car and when it stopped he got into the driver's seat and drove away, a witness recording the whole thing on their mobile phone.
Police said the specially modified vehicle was found burnt out at Singleton later that night.
Acting Judge Anthony Blackmore, SC, said on Tuesday the offending was "all part of one crazy day" that had been "mostly engendered" by Jaxson, who he described as "out of control".
He said Mark, who was on parole at the time, had "almost provided commendable assistance" during the earlier attempted carjacking at Maitland railway station and that offence was at the lowest end of the range.
Mark is serving a period of revoked parole until March, 2025, and on Wednesday Acting Judge Blackmore jailed him for a maximum of two years and three months, with a non-parole period of one year, making him eligible for parole in December this year.
Mark will still have to go before the parole board in August in relation to his revoked parole, which doesn't expire until 2025.
