A 28-year-old man was sentenced to two years in prison with a non-parole period of 12 months in Shepparton Magistrate Court last week.
Simranjeet Singh pleaded guilty to a number of charges including dangerous driving that put many lives at risk on the streets of northern Victoria.
He has already spent 130 days in custody, the court has confirmed to SBS Punjabi.
Mr Singh has been accused of repeatedly ramming into the rear of a car that was ferrying a mother, her 16-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son, in Shepparton in January this year.
After being hit for the first time, the victim attempted to drive away from the accused’s car, but her vehicle was hit again, the court heard.
The family then ran into the nearby KFC outlet to save their lives.
In the victim impact statement, the mother said that she has nightmares about what happened to them on the day of the incident, reported Shepparton News.
"I felt totally powerless knowing that my little boy was in the back seat screaming for help and I couldn’t do anything to help him," the mother was quoted as saying in her statement.
Mr Singh then continued to drive along Wyndham Street, plunging into another vehicle that was transporting three minor girls, the court was told.
When approached by the police at the Riverside Plaza car park, the accused speedily reversed the car, in turn hitting one of the officers before driving away at high speed.
Soon after, Mr Singh’s car began to emanate smoke and eventually lost speed, which led to his arrest.
His lawyer, Patrick Rose told the court that his client had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia after he was remanded in custody earlier this year.
He went on to contest that the accused has little memory of the events that occurred on the day.
While sentencing Mr Singh, Magistrate John Murphy said, "The penalty today would have been far greater if you hadn’t have been affected by severe mental illness at the time," reported Shepparton News.
Mr Singh was sentenced to eighteen months in jail for charges related to dangerous driving incidents that occurred in January and six months for multiple other offences that he committed in December last year including burglary, theft and being inebriated at a public place.
