Hamilton man falsely imprisoned inside car

The victim had been picked up by an associate in May last year and believed he was taking her to his drug source to buy methamphetamine, the Warrnambool Magistrates Court heard on Monday.

Once inside the car, the doors were locked and a man hiding in the boot appeared from a gap in the seats.

The victim was then assaulted.

The offenders Ewan Hamilton, 38, and Katrina Van Rooy, 33, pleaded guilty to false imprisonment.

Hamilton also pleaded guilty to charges of intentionally causing injury and criminal damage.

The court heard Van Rooy contacted the victim on May 6 last year and asked him to help her score drugs.

She picked him up in a blue Holden Commodore sedan about 11.30pm.

The victim was seated in the back when he realised Hamilton was hiding in the boot.

He tried to escape but the child lock was activated.

Van Rooy briefly stopped the car, allowing Hamilton to exit the boot and enter through the rear door.

Hamilton then punched the victim to the face with a chain that was wrapped around his fist.

As Van Rooy kept driving, the assault continued. She attended Hamilton's United Service station to fill up with fuel and the pair forced the victim into the boot to avoid being seen.

When Van Rooy went to pay, the victim pulled the release button inside the boot and jumped out.

He sought refuge inside the service station as an attendant called Triple-zero.

The court heard Hamilton smashed the victim's phone on the ground before he and Van Rooy fled the scene.

The female offender was unlicensed at the time of the offending.

The pair was arrested three days later about 1000 kilometres from Hamilton, and were subsequently extradited from NSW.

The victim suffered injuries, including minor fractures to his nose and deep bruising to his ribs.

Patrick Casey, representing Hamilton, said his client had confronted the victim about a stolen vehicle, which he said was an explanation, not a justification for the offending.

Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge said people taking the law into their own hands was not tolerated as it "displaced the role of the courts to punish people who commit crimes".

"It is not your place to do that," he told Hamilton.

The court heard the man was jailed in 2013 after pleading guilty to culpable driving causing the death of his friend.

Mr Lethbridge said it was not surprising Hamilton came out of jail after a "significant term" and had not properly dealt with the consequences of that fatal crash.

He said while that had led the man to drug use, now was the time to "pick himself up" and ensure he didn't become institutionalised.

Hamilton was sentenced to the one year he had already served in custody on remand.

Van Rooy, who had no prior criminal history, spent 129 days on remand before her release on bail.

She was also sentenced to time already served.

Van Rooy's licence was disqualified for 12 months.

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