Man at the Centre of Road Rage Incident Handed 2-year Good Behaviour Bond

BY JESSICA ROUSE

The driver who pleaded guilty to a road rage incident in Sandgate has been handed a two year good behaviour bond.

Shane Nicholson from Branxton faced Maitland Court yesterday where he was also ordered to pay $2600 worth of fines and was disqualified for 18 months from driving.

The 37-year-old deliberately rammed a driver on Maitland Road back in August.

He said he just "lost it" after video of the incident went viral.

EARLIER:

Accused Sandgate Road Rage Driver Pleads Guilty

Footage of the incident went viral.

Car Overturns In Bad Crash At Branxton

BY IAN CROUCH

A man has been taken to hospital after a bad smash at Branxton early Thursday.

The 60-year-old was driving on the New England Highway just before 12.30am when he lost control of the vehicle and slammed into a power pole.

The force of the crash was so great, the car ended up on its roof hanging over the guard rail.

The driver was found barely conscious lying on the inside roof of the car.

He was taken the John Hunter Hospital by road ambulance in a serous condition.

Finks bikie gang raids

BY JARROD MELMETH

Police have raided five Hunter properties in Thornton, Lambton, Branxton, Cameron Park and Kearsley this morning with alleged links to the Finks bikie gang.

The raids follow a brawl at the Fire Station Hotel in Wallsend last Friday where it's alleged men with links to the Finks were involved in a brawl with several other men.

The Cameron Park property is believed to be the clubhouse of the gang.

End of bush fire season

The Hunter Valley Rural Fire Service is celebrating the end of a hectic bush fire season today

The end of the 2013-2014 season means permits are no longer required to do any burning in the open however residents of Singleton, Branxton, Musswellbrook and Denman still require permits from Fire and Rescue NSW

Super Intendant Paul Jones, from the Hunter Valley RFS says the Hunter Valley has a longer bush fire season than other parts of NSW

"Conditions were drier and we also had a number of lightening storms go trough the area that created fires in remote areas that required substantial effort to contain, so yeah, a bit busier than normal but we expect that in the Hunter Valley it's a very fire prone area."

Super Intendant Jones warns that residents still need to be wary, "they should be using the cooler weather and the more moister weather to make sure that their properties are well prepared, manage their assets protection zones around their assets, do any required burning off that they need to do, the RFS is more than happy to assist with that".