In a dramatic courtroom moment, a collective gasp followed by spontaneous applause erupted when a road-rage perpetrator received a lengthy prison sentence. The convicted individual had dragged another man alongside his vehicle in a fit of anger while hurrying to work.

Rhyce Harding, a young landscaper, tragically lost his life after an altercation with another driver who had aggressively cut him off on the outskirts of Sydney in June 2024.

Today, Bradley Wayne Wilkinson was sentenced to 16 years in prison for the death of his fellow ute driver, an act he committed before fleeing the scene.

“The public’s growing concern is that everyone should feel secure while driving,” remarked acting Judge Paul Conlon during his stern sentencing address at the NSW District Court.

“Using motor vehicles as weapons cannot be condoned, and significant penalties must be imposed,” he emphasized.

Wilkinson, 40, cut off Harding’s red ute after exiting a roundabout in Blackett, before refusing to allow the 27-year-old to merge and avoid a parked car.

“Someone’s riding my ass,” the younger man told a friend over the phone before stepping out of his car to approach Wilkinson’s window.

Wilkinson then grabbed onto Harding’s hi-vis jumper, pinning him to the car, and drove 55 metres past several houses before letting go, Conlon said.

Harding fell to the road and under the ute’s wheel as Wilkinson sped away.

He died at the scene with a tyre imprint on his jumper.

“As Mr Harding was held against the offender’s vehicle, he was defenceless,” the judge said.

Conlon found the killer invited confrontation by stopping his vehicle and refusing to let Harding pass.

“The offence of manslaughter was of a very high order and the dangerousness of the unlawful act was extreme,” the judge said.

The bouncing motion of the vehicle and the sound made as it ran over the landscaper’s body meant Wilkinson knew what had happened but still chose to drive off, Conlon said.

Witnesses saw Harding vomiting, moaning and gasping for air before he died.

As his final moments were read out in court today, the victim’s family shed tears and held their mouths in their hands.

They filled the public gallery of the courtroom wearing T-shirts emblazoned with Harding’s wolf-and-roses chest tattoo.

Wilkinson sat silently with his head bowed as he watched via audio-visual link from Bathurst prison.

He placed his head in his hands as he was handed a non-parole period of 12 years to expire on June 20, 2036.

The judge acknowledged the emotional and psychological harm the incident had caused to Harding’s family, noting that nothing he said could alleviate their long-lasting grief.

In handing down his sentence, he noted Wilkinson’s history of violence, including assaults dating back to 2014 and three fights in custody since his arrest.

Outside court, Harding’s parents said their son was the glue that held the family together.

They supported the judge’s sentence.

“It gives a message to anybody who does road rage and takes another life to think twice,” father John Harding said.

“Road rage is not worth it.”

Mother Mary Harding told reporters the legal system was waking up.

“Finally, they’re giving a sentence which is deserving,” she said.

“If I could have given him 50 years, I would have.”