Two Perth men have been jailed over a "dangerous" potato throwing "prank" that led to an e-scooter rider losing an eye.
In May last year, 20-year-olds Trent Philip Green and Brandon John Nutu Micicoi were driving along West Coast Drive in the beachside suburb of Trigg, throwing potatoes out of the window of their car.
One of them hit the victim, causing him to fall off his scooter.
The potato hit him in the right eye causing catastrophic injuries that led to the eye being removed, leaving him partially blind.
The victim also suffered a broken arm and nose in the fall from the scooter.
The District Court heard that an analysis of a mobile phone had discovered videos of what the men were doing, and laughing could be heard.
Two pedestrians had also been hit by the potatoes but were not seriously injured, the court heard.
Green and Micicoi pleaded guilty two charges — one count of doing an act that endangered the safety of others for the potatoes that were thrown at the pedestrians, and one count of causing grievous bodily harm for the e-scooter rider.
The court was told the two had done what they called "coast runs" or "cruises" beforehand, and had purchased 12 kilograms of potatoes to throw out the window.
The next day they purchased more potatoes with the intention of doing the same thing again that night.
Green sentenced for egg throwing
The court heard that earlier the same day Green had been sentenced, in his absence, for a similar offence where the month before he had thrown an egg out a car window and hit a pedestrian.
The prior conviction was highlighted by Judge Michael Gething who said the sentencing for that offence took place at the same time as he was organising to do the same thing again.
"He knew throwing things out the car window had criminal consequences," Judge Gething noted.
"What's troubling is the magistrate accepted that he was unlikely to come to court again."
Offending 'result of immaturity'
Green's lawyer Kate Turtley-Chappel said the offence was the result of her client's lack of consequential thinking and maturity.
She said Green regarded what he was doing as a prank, but he now realised the seriousness of his actions and was undergoing counselling and changing his behaviour.
Micicoi's lawyer said his client had not foreseen that his actions, which at the time he considered "a childish prank", could have led to such serious consequences.
He said Micicoi, who had been dismissed from his job, was now socially withdrawn and was effectively "a prisoner of his own mind and his own home".
'Dangerous prank with devastating, life-changing consequences'
Judge Gething said the offence was too serious for a suspended jail term to be imposed, describing what the men did "as a dangerous prank with devastating and life-changing consequences" for the victim.
The judge noted that around the time of the incident, receipts showed a total of around 70 kilograms of the vegetable had been purchased, which he described as an "arsenal".
He said while the men's young age was a significant mitigating factor, a sentence needed to be imposed that would deter other people, particularly young men, from doing the same.
Green was sentenced to 18 months' jail while Micicoi was given a 16-month term.
The judge ordered both serve six months, while the balance of their sentences were suspended.
