Chinchilla woman breaches domestic violence order by pointing and laughing at former partner

A Chinchilla woman who pointed and laughed at her ex made the outlandish claim she didn’t know it was him because he was wearing a bucket hat.

Dalby Courthouse

A Dalby magistrate has questioned a Chinchilla woman’s decision to shop at the supermarket where her former partner worked while being subject to a domestic violence order.

The 28-year-old appeared in Dalby Magistrates Court where she pleaded guilty to one count of breaching a DV order that was made on November 13, 2024.

The court was told that on January 10 the defendant was shopping at a Western Downs supermarket with her friend when she spotted the aggrieved working in the deli section.

Despite her order not permitting her to be within 100m of the aggrieved rather than leave the scene the defendant then allegedly pointed and laughed at him before he walked out the back and called the police.

The defendant told the court she wasn’t sure if it was the aggrieved as he was wearing a bucket hat and it was at a distance at which point magistrate Kathleen Payne retorted “but you pointed and laughed?”

The defendant then told the court she didn't know what to do if she saw the aggrieved and said “I just don’t shop there anymore to be on the safe side”.

Ms Payne told the defendant although the offending was on the lower end of the scale she was not to go anywhere near him and was certainly not to point and laugh at him.

“You showed poor judgment to go to the store when you knew he worked there,” she said.

“If you see the defendant it is up to you to leave and walk away”.

For the breach she was fined $400 and no conviction was recorded.