Pure Skin Face and Body Clinic owner Sharna Jane Kotz pleads guilty to Monsoons attack
‘You kick him in the genitals’: A Palmerston beauty business owner has admitted to repeatedly kicking an unconscious man in the groin at a nightclub, while her army boyfriend remains under investigation.
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A Palmerston beautician has been ‘traumatised’ after spending 72-hours in the lockup, while her army boyfriend remains under a “serious military investigation” over an alleged nightclub assault.
Former NT Government Small Business Achievement Award winner and Pure Skin Face and Body Clinic owner Sharna Jane Kotz appeared in Darwin Local Court on Tuesday to plead guilty to an aggravated assault at Monsoons.
Her boyfriend, co-accused and Australian Defence Force combat engineer Aaron Waye was also charged with aggravated assault and engaging in violent conduct, but has not yet entered a plea.
Their lawyer Lee Campbell said the couple were drinking with friends at the Mitchell St venue when they were approached by the alleged victim on Saturday May 10.
Judge Steve Ledek heard the stranger reportedly called Kotz a “fat c**t” and a “s**t” moments before the alleged bar brawl.
CCTV footage appeared to show Mr Waye grabbing the man by the throat, pushing him against a pillar before he slumped into unconsciousness.
The lawyers debated whether the 29-year-old soldier then pushed or dropped the man’s unconscious body to the ground.
However, on Tuesday the Palmerston beautician admitted to unleashing a flurry of violence against the stranger, kicking him repeatedly to the groin and then swinging at his face.
“A prone man who is unconscious, you kick him in the genitals,” Mr Ledek said.
“After he is pulled off the ground, you go at him and attempt to punch him in the face.”
The beautician continued to swing at the man before security and bystanders stepped in to separate them, with the 28-year-old returning to her seat to grab her purse.
Mr Ledek said while in that drunken moment she may have felt it was an “act of retribution for that slight and insult”, in the eyes of the community it was another unacceptable example of alcohol fuelled violence.
“The reaction you then took is so disproportionate to what was said,” he told her.
Ms Campbell noted the 28-year-old had a very limited criminal history, and she had already spent three days in custody waiting for her first appearance in court.
“She says she’s never experienced anything like it before,” Ms Campbell said.
“She will not ever come back before the court again; she has suffered a lot of trauma because of where she’s been for the past three days.”
Kotz’s hand shook as she sat behind the security glass, still dressed in the same clubbing outfit from days earlier.
When Mr Ledek convicted and sentenced her to one month imprisonment, Kotz stared in shock before beginning to weep, before the judge clarified that term would be suspended immediately.
He told Kotz she would have to remain on a good behaviour for the next six months, or risk serving the remainder of her sentence.
Her co-accused and boyfriend Mr Waye did not enter a plea and instead made an application for bail.
Mr Ledek said the new bail laws meant he had to put considerable weight on the community’s safety, given the alleged random attack “where that person is held by the throat until they’re rendered unconscious, then dropped and beaten”.
“This man is (allegedly) capable of committing very significant acts of violence to a person in an open public setting,” Mr Ledek said.
“Where that person has no relation to him, no knowledge of who he is, and at this point no justification for the conduct.”
But Mr Ledek recognised Mr Waye has no criminal history, and given his employment “he will be under the scrutiny of his military commanders and superiors”, effectively rendering the soldier to “house arrest”.
The soldier said he was unable to wear an electronic monitoring device as “his movements are and the area he works in makes it unsuitable for him being tracked” and similarly could not agree to a curfew due to training operations.
Mr Ledek approved bail with the conditions that he could not enter the Darwin CBD or attend any licenced premises, purchase, possess or consume alcohol, and had to provide a $5000 bond.
Ms Campbell said alongside the criminal charges Mr Waye would be subject to a “very serious military investigation”.
His matter will return to court on July 14 for a directions hearing.
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Originally published as Pure Skin Face and Body Clinic owner Sharna Jane Kotz pleads guilty to Monsoons attack
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