Family's horror road rage ordeal

A Rotorua man who "terrorised" a family of five during a horrifying road rage incident has been sentenced to home detention.
Rhys Hirst, 29, tailgated the family, overtook them and then slammed on his brakes in front of them. The family pulled over and turned around to try to escape, but Hirst followed.
Hirst was sentenced this week to six months' home detention, intensive supervision and was disqualified from driving for two years when he appeared before Judge James Weir in the Rotorua District Court. He had earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of assault with a weapon.
Hirst was heading towards Rotorua from Tauranga on Pyes Pa Rd about 5pm on December 12 when he began tailgating a car carrying a Tauranga family of five, including a pregnant woman, the police summary states.
He was driving so close behind the family's car the driver could see only Hirst's windscreen in his rear-vision mirror.
"You terrorised this family of five," Judge Weir told Hirst. "It was just an ongoing, extraordinary display of a complete lack of control and with total disregard for this family of five and other users on the road who had to take evasive action. The children were absolutely terrified."
Hirst followed the family for some distance, overtaking at times and braking hard in front of the family's car, causing the other driver to swerve on to the other side of the road, nearly hitting a bank.
At one stage the family was so terrified they pulled into a cemetery before deciding to turn around and head back to Tauranga.
However, Hirst, who was waiting further up the road for them, began following them again, tailgating and braking hard when he got in front of their car.
At one stage the driver of the victims' car stopped and Hirst got out of his car, and walked towards them waving a fist in the air. The victim quickly drove off.
Hirst caught them again and got in front, forcing the driver to drive up on to the footpath to avoid hitting another car.
 When he got to the roundabout at Pyes Pa, Hirst drove his car on to the concrete raised area, forcing the other driver on to the wrong side of the road again.
He drove off at speed when he noticed the woman in the passenger seat on her mobile phone.
When spoken to by police, Hirst said the family had "played up" the incident and that he just got "angry" after they threw food out of their car which landed on his windscreen.
His lawyer Andy Schulze told the court Hirst was not in a good frame of mind when the incident happened after having an argument with his partner.
Hirst was deeply remorseful for his actions and never intended to frighten the family during the 20-minute episode.
Hirst was also sentenced for an assault on his partner on Christmas Day, punching her in the head several times and then trying to strangle her.