A man who punched a pregnant woman in the stomach during an ice-fuelled road rage incident has avoided a jail after pleading guilty.
David Cutt, 37, received a two-year community corrections order in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday over the assault and other offences from last November.
The sentence takes into account the 231 days Cutt spent in custody before he was sentenced.
The court was told Cutt, 37, assaulted the woman, who was then seven months pregnant, after he crashed into her car on a busy road.
The woman and her husband were sitting in the gutter in shock when Cutt aggressively walked up to them and assaulted her, Magistrate Donna Bakos said on Monday.
"You struck the woman several times in the abdomen despite (her) being visibly pregnant," she said.
Cutt also stabbed a bystander, who tried to intervene, in the hand with his car keys.
It took six police officers to restrain the ice-affected supermarket employee and wrestle him into the back of a police van, the magistrate said.
The magistrate said Cutt's guilty pleas to causing serious injury, assaulting a police officer and reckless driving meant he had avoided at least 12 months of imprisonment.
"You are still a relatively young person and there is a prospect of rehabilitation," Ms Bakos said.
Cutt had been using illicit drugs since a young age and had previously been addicted to heroin.
"Your drug of choice and demise has been ice," Ms Bakos said.
His lawyer said Cutt had limited convictions before the road rage incident.
Cutt must complete 150 hours of community work and receive treatment for his drug abuse and mental health issues.
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