Cindy Anne Baker pleads guilty to ‘bizarre’ robbery, spraying down neighbour's home with a hose

A panicked mother barricaded her young children in a room as a neighbour smashed her way into their home and wreaked havoc in the dead of night, a court has heard.

Cindy Anne Baker appeared in the Supreme Court in Darwin on Thursday to plead guilty to a ‘bizarre’ aggravated robbery at an Edith Falls home. Picture: Casey Bishop Photography/Facebook

A former model in the grips of an ice addiction smashed into her neighbour’s home armed with a garden hose, dousing the rooms in water and causing $42,000 in damage.

Cindy Anne Baker appeared in the Supreme Court in Darwin on Thursday to plead guilty to a ‘bizarre’ aggravated robbery at an Edith Falls home.

Justice Meredith Huntingford heard Baker’s neighbour woke to the sound of six gunshots breaking through the dead silence of the night on November 24, 2023.

The woman, who was alone with her two young children, went to her lounge room window and saw Baker walking up her driveway “carrying something she thought looked like a firearm”.

Panicking, the mother got her children to hide under the bed and barricaded them into a room.

Baker picked up a garden hose outside and started to spray down the exterior walls and the fuse box, before smashing a window and walking in.

“She soaked the lounge room, television and entertainment unit, the kitchen, the hallway, the artwork on the wall and a full shelf of books in the hallway,” Prosecutor Shane McMasters said.

Cindy Anne Baker appeared in the Supreme Court in Darwin on Thursday to plead guilty to a ‘bizarre’ aggravated robbery at an Edith Falls home. Picture: Facebook

Mr McMasters said the then 29-year-old proceeded to yank artworks off the walls and smashed mirrors while saying: “I’m going to stab her, I’m going to shoot her, I’m going to burn her, I’m going to kill her”.

Another neighbour pulled into the home to help, and his high beams captured as Baker jumped out of the window, before she climbed onto the roof of a tractor.

Mr McMasters said the damages totalled about $42,145, with the family unable to live in their own home due to the destruction.

Justice Huntingford heard Baker had only met her neighbours two weeks before the “bizarre” break in.

Cindy Anne Baker appeared in the Supreme Court in Darwin on Thursday to plead guilty to a ‘bizarre’ aggravated robbery at an Edith Falls home. Picture: Facebook

Mr McMasters said the victim impact statement from the husband suggested there may be a “real racial hate crime motivational aspect” to the offending.

However, Justice Huntingford said Baker’s bipolar disorder and methamphetamine use at the time were more likely driving forces than an ‘off the cuff remark’.

“People say all sorts of things when they’re under the influence and also unwell — it’s impossible to know,” Justice Huntingford said.

Defence barrister Tiana Davey highlighted her client had already spent just under a year in prison on remand, where she was receiving treatment for her bipolar disorder.

Ms Davey said Baker wanted to remain clean after her release, and was seeking a placement at Venndale Rehabilitation Centre.

She called for Baker to be assessed for a home detention order, despite this placing her back next door to her victims.

Justice Huntingford adjourned her sentencing decision until January 15.

Originally published as Cindy Anne Baker pleads guilty to ‘bizarre’ robbery, spraying down neighbour's home with a hose