January 30, 2014

A woman whose husband was jailed last week for bashing her and threatening her with a taser and a syringe was lucky to escape jail herself when she appeared in Kingaroy Magistrates Court today.

The 26-year-old mother-of-two pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified and being a public nuisance.

Magistrate Mark Bucknall said the woman would go to jail if she continued to drive while disqualified as she was a repeat offender.

On the public nuisance charge, Police Prosecutor Sergeant Wayne Bushell presented video evidence to the court which showed the women involved in an altercation between a number of people outside a Kingaroy hotel on November 15.

“The defendant can be seen throwing punches in the crowd, trying to hit an unknown person,” Sgt Bushell said.

Defence solicitor Mark Werner said his client had been diagnosed with depression and may have post traumatic stress as a result of the domestic violence.

He said she was planning to move to Hervey Bay to build a better life for herself and her two children.

Mr Bucknall said the video showed the woman “swinging indiscriminately” and demonstrated the seriousness of the public nuisance offence.

He also noted that the woman had been before the court on similar charges on at least five prior occasions and “nothing has worked”.

“You might have issues but that doesn’t excuse your behaviour,” he said.

“You are on the cusp of going to jail. If you continue the way you are going, you will go to jail.

“No matter how tragic your circumstances, you can’t continue on like this.”

On the driving charge, Mr Bucknall fined the woman $1000 and disqualified her from driving for two years. This would be cumulative to the disqualification period she was already serving.

On the public nuisance charge, he placed her on six months probation.

Mr Bucknall noted the presentation of the video evidence had more impact than just hearing about the incident. He invited the prosecution to always tender video evidence if it was available.