A catering magnate who hit a young boy with his car received a punishment that some netizens viewed as nothing more than a slap on the wrist.
Australian businessman Howard Wright was captured on camera hitting a 12-year-old boy on an electric bicycle with his Audi A5.
Footage of the January 5 incident was captured on the boy’s GoPro and circulated online, sparking heated debate.
Australian businessman Howard Wright was fined after colliding with a 12-year-old boy on an electric bicycle
Image credits: 7 NEWS
Image credits: 7 NEWS
Wright, 58, whose company owns two bars in Paradise Point, was fined approximately $645 AUD (approximately $400 USD) for careless driving and lost three demerit points after the incident.
The punishment has reportedly angered some internet users, with one saying: “That’s bulls….”
“People who say he had the right of way shouldn’t have a permit,” read a second comment on the crash video, while a third wrote: “God help that man he [sic] if my child is hit like this…’
Queensland Police defended the sentence handed out to Wright. They noted that the boy involved in the incident had racially abused the restaurant owner by calling him the N-word before the clash.
Footage of the collision, captured on the boy’s GoPro, went viral on social media
Image credits: 7 NEWS
“Police have reviewed the footage of the child, or boy, in its entirety, and this confirms the adult driver’s version of events that he was racially abused and harassed by the boy and his associates prior to the collision,” Acting Superintendent Jason Tuffley was quoted telling reporters on Monday, January 20.
“As a result of this information, and the driver’s subsequent conduct, his reporting that this had occurred, and the police investigating the matter in its entirety, it was decided that only the driver will commit a traffic offence. which carries a fine of $640 and three demerit points,” he continued.
Chief Inspector Tuffley also said the boy had been given a warning about his behaviour.
Wright claimed he tried to ‘stop’ the boy and confront him over the alleged ‘harassment’
Image credits: 7 NEWS
“The child has been cautioned in connection with posting content online that led to threats against the driver of the vehicle and posting of his address,” he said.
When asked if there was any backstory that led to Wright hitting the child with his car, the chief said: “In this circumstance, the appropriate course of action was followed and he was issued a traffic violation citation.”
“I can’t answer that question for every single circumstance involving a vehicle hitting a child. That would obviously not be an appropriate course of action,” he added.
Amid the backlash that arose online, the driver explicitly said in a statement that he had “no intention at all” of hitting the boy.
The catering magnate’s company owns two bars in Paradise Point
Image credits: The salon
“I wanted to talk to him to say stop this. You’re bothering me, and I don’t deserve that.
Wright claimed he was trying to “stop” the boy because of the alleged “harassment” he had received “over the past three months.”
“I tried to pull ahead of him, and unfortunately that was a bit misjudged. I tried to pull in front of him. He rides an illegal scooter that goes 70 km/h. If you pull after him, they go. Children are children; we were all children. This isn’t that. This led to intimidation; it was several times a day.”
The incident, filmed by the 12-year-old boy’s GoPro, captured the tense encounter after the child was knocked to the ground.
Queensland Police defended the $640 AUD fine imposed on the 58-year-old driver
@7nieuwsqThe driver who collided with a 12-year-old boy over claims of ‘ding-dong ditching’ has spoken exclusively about the incident. The man says the boy and his friends ‘harassed’ me for months. #crash #collision #driver #gopro #bike #prank #dingdong #interview #exclusive #7NEWS♬ original sound – 7NEWS Queensland
“What the f…, I didn’t do anything, I didn’t do anything, I wasn’t even there,” the young cyclist was heard saying.
“I know you didn’t do anything,” the driver said before pointing out, “This bike is illegal.”
“I know, but why did you hit me?” the boy asked back.
“You ran in front of my car,” Wright said. “I’m sorry.”
The viral clip also showed a woman approaching them and telling Wright that the boy was “just a kid.”
Wright then began to explain how some children had been knocking on his door every day, and he had filed his complaint with the police.
“The appropriate action was taken in these circumstances,” Queensland Police said in a statement
Image credits: 7 NEWS
Image credits: 7 NEWS
“They knock on my door every day,” he says.
“I didn’t do it,” insisted the boy, who suffered some bruises and scratches from the collision, while his $7,000 electric bike was also damaged.
After the collision, the boy’s father expressed frustration that Wright was not charged for punching his son.
“[My son’s] contacted me in shock, pretty much quite scared of what had happened. From what I can see in the footage, he was [driver] rammed him off his bike with his motor vehicle,” the father said, as quoted by the newspaper Gold Coast Bulletin.
The 12-year-old boy suffered bruises and scratches, and his $7,000 electric bicycle was also damaged
Image credits: Gold Coast Bulletin
The father said he went to Runaway Bay police station with his son after seeing the GoPro footage.
“When I spoke to the police, they said he is in a lot of trouble because of this,” the parent previously said. “The police saw the images on the GoPro, and that was true [in] disgusted with it.”
The father said he was not happy that Wright got away with a fine.
‘The human [Wright] just walks away with a $700 fine for running over my 12-year-old boy, who is still in shock and traumatized,” he said last week.
‘I have to do something about it, I’m not happy with it. I have been abandoned by the police. It gives other people the idea that it is a good thing. It’s crazy and it sets a bad example.”
‘I have to do something about it. I’m not happy about it,” the boy’s father said of the fine given to Wright
@eucamuziek Watch out for this crazy HOWARD WRIGHT. Rego is B50 KG3. Terrifying and disgusting. #goldcoastnews #goldcoast #howwardwright #ebike ♬ original sound – EUCA🍉
Last week, Wright said he was living “in fear” after the incident. He reportedly received death threats on his phone in recent weeks.
“My only comment is that this is a police matter and I fear for my life,” he told the newspaper.
Wright’s neighbors and other residents told the story Gold Coast Bulletin that they have been “tense” and “scared” because of the “out of control” youth in the area.
Official data released last year shows that youth crime rates have fallen over the years statistics released by Queensland Police.
The total number of unique youth offenders has decreased by 2% between the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years and by 18% since 2012/2013.
The internet was divided over the incident, with some claiming the collision appeared “intentional.”
Related posts:
