Teenager gets five years jail for incident leading to amputated leg

A young man has been jailed for driving into a group of revellers at a popular Melbourne nightspot, leading to a teenager having his leg amputated.

After a night of drinking, Dieu Mawut Atem, 19, joined in a fight at Collingwood's Gasometer Hotel during the early hours of September 2 last year.

During the brawl, he picked up a chair and threw it into the crowd, hitting a man in the back of his head.

Outside the bar, Atem started fighting with another man before falling to the ground and getting attacked by a number of males.

He then made the decision to get behind the wheel of his friend's Nissan Pulsar, "accelerating towards a number of young people with some force" while on the wrong side of the road.

The group "took evasive action by jumping out of the way of the car", but David Bilal Dada, 18, became crushed between two parked cars when Atem slammed into a Mitsubishi that collided with a Volkswagen.

Mr Dada's right tibia and fibula were instantly shattered.

The victim's friend recalled seeing bone poking out of Mr Dada's leg and noticing the teenager was bleeding heavily.

That friend wrapped his belt around Mr Dada's leg to stem the bleeding, with the help of police at the scene.

Another man, who was waiting for a taxi, was hit by Atem's speeding car and fell to the ground, unable to move for 20 minutes.

At 6.45pm that evening, Atem was arrested but told police he hadn't been involved and couldn't remember much of the evening after being hit in the head.

The following week, police executed a search warrant at Atem's home and arrested him.

He told police he had "heaps to drink" and was "drunk as f***".

Mr Dada was taken to hospital via ambulance and his lower right leg amputated the same day Atem was taken into custody.

The victim underwent six operations and at one point had a metal rod inserted in his leg.

"You drove backwards and forwards, up-and-down the street in a manner such that you could easily have killed a number of people. You nearly did. It was simply good

fortune that you didn't," County Court Judge Elizabeth Brimer said while sentencing today.

"You had very little, if any, regard for the safety of those in the vicinity of the car you were driving."

She described Mr Dada's injuries as "horrendous".

Atem was jailed for five years and must serve three years before he is eligible for parole.

He has already served 327 days in pre-sentence detention.

Judge Brimer's full sentencing remarks are available online at: https://www.countycourt.vic.gov.au/files/documents/2019-08/dpp-v-dieu-atem-sentencing-remarks_0.pdf