Tuggeranong Hairhouse Warehouse proprietor Deon Gibbons given suspended jail sentence for road rage

Deon James Gibbons, 40, wiped away tears and removed his face mask to blow his nose in the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday after narrowly avoiding time behind bars.

Special magistrate Jane Campbell sentenced the fitness trainer and proprietor of the Tuggeranong Hairhouse Warehouse store to a suspended six-month jail term.

She also imposed $1400 worth of fines, and ordered Gibbons to perform 120 hours of community service.

Ms Campbell did so after hearing a statement from Gibbons' victim, who described still being fearful on a daily basis nearly two years on from the December 2019 incident.

On the day in question, the victim was driving home from work when she noticed Gibbons tailgating her on Drake-Brockman Drive.

The woman, a public servant, stuck one of her middle fingers up at Gibbons as he overtook her.

This prompted an angry Gibbons to stop on Macnaughton Street in Higgins.

He got out of his car and stood in the middle of the road near a traffic island.

With the victim unable to get away, Gibbons aggressively approached her Suzuki Swift and grabbed her face through the open driver's side window.

The woman told an April hearing he had held her "like a vice" before he "slammed" her head into the headrest and broke her glasses by throwing them onto the road.

During the attack, Gibbons said: "Not so tough now, are you, you f---ing slut?"

Gibbons denied touching or speaking to the woman, but Ms Campbell accepted the victim's version of events and found the businessman guilty of common assault, property damage and offensive behaviour.

The 40-year-old's sentencing on Thursday began with prosecutor Luke Crocker reading the victim's statement to the court.

"Deon James Gibbons took away my sense of safety," the victim wrote.

"I had the 'temerity' to express fear and frustration at his aggressive and dangerous driving, and for that I had to be put back in my box.

"The message, when he spoke to me, wasn't just that I was 'not so tough now, you f---ing slut'. It was that I am a woman and a piece of garbage, and this is all I deserved."

Mr Crocker told the court a term of full-time imprisonment would be appropriate.

He said sentences imposed on Gibbons for violence against women in the past had not stopped him reoffending.

Mr Crocker added that Gibbons had a "concerning attitude", which was reflected in both his offending and a pre-sentence report.

Part of that report said: "[Gibbons] stated he believed the court's decision to find him guilt [sic] was 'sexist' against him."

Gibbons' barrister, Jason Moffett, told Ms Campbell his client had not been accusing her of personally being sexist.

"My instructions are that [Gibbons] was quite aggrieved and jaded by the rejection of his evidence," he said.

Mr Moffett conceded the threshold for a jail sentence had been crossed and that, while Gibbons maintained his innocence, the 40-year-old clearly had "anger issues".

He suggested a suspended sentence involving supervision and appropriate treatment would help to achieve rehabilitation.

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Ms Campbell said Gibbons' history of offending indicated he had "a poor attitude to females".

"He resorts to violence when he's angry, particularly against women," she said.

The magistrate called the 2019 attack "a disgraceful incident".

"It was an unjustifiable response to the victim flipping [Gibbons] the bird," Ms Campbell said.

"It was a road rage incident, and that's important because it focuses the court's attention on general deterrence.

"A person who drives their car is entitled to feel safe and not be subjected to gratuitous violence, as was the victim in this matter."

Ms Campbell also noted the victim would have been particularly vulnerable because she was "stuck in her car" and restrained by her seatbelt.

Ultimately, she found only a sentence of imprisonment was appropriate.

But the magistrate said Gibbons had complied with court orders in the past.

This gave her some confidence he would abide by the terms of the 12-month good behaviour order she attached to his suspended sentence.

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