Mary Mooka pleads guilty in Roma Magistrates Court to assaulting and obstructing police and damaging property

A teenager with an ‘unhealthy’ hatred of police assaulted an officer who was searching for a stolen vehicle. Here’s what happened in court.

An 18-year-old Roma woman with an “unhealthy” hatred of the police has appeared before the magistrate after she attacked police who were investigating a stolen car.

Mary Mooka pleaded guilty in Roma Magistrates Court to obstructing and assaulting police and wilful and unlawful damage of property.

Police prosecutions said the defendant began her tirade of verbal abuse at police when they came to her home on December 15 looking for a man they suspected was involved in a car theft.

However when police informed Mooka and her mother that they were going to search the house, they refused.

“Can you lot step out of my yard, don’t come walking into my yard boy, I don’t give a f-ck I’ll call you what I want scum. Get out of my f-cking yard, you don’t have a search warrant, get out of my yard,” Mooka said to police.

The court was told the defendant’s mother was arrested before Mooka began swinging her arms and resisting arrest.

“I’m going to punch you c--t,” she said shortly before shoulder barging a constable in the chest, connecting with his sternum causing immediate pain.

Police warned her multiple times she was obstructing police and as she was placed in the vehicle she called police “p-ssies” and said “I should have punched you in the face c--ksucker”’ to the same constable she assaulted.

Mooka was taken to the watch house where she continued abusing police and was placed in a padded cell.

CCTV footage captured her damaging the wall by scratching her initials ‘MM’ into the wall along with the letters FTP, KM and CBH.

Defence lawyer Laurie Parker said he’s thankful the officer wasn’t hurt and that his client’s attitude towards police needs to change.

“She’s not a bad person, she needs to make smart decisions. She is an intelligent young person,” he said.

“She woke up stressed because her brother was in custody, she didn’t want police to enter and her and her mother falsely believed they (police) needed a warrant to enter.

“She said she didn’t like the attitude of the police officer.”

Magistrate Shane Elliott said police were entitled to attend the address and Mooka’s attack was a “deliberate and forceful act”.

“Police had seen an offender with a stolen motor vehicle and came to your address looking for that person which they are entitled to do,” he said.

“You shoulder charged into the police officer, that’s not incidental, not just pushing them aside.

“It seems to me there is an unhealthy and unjustified dislike or hate of the police who are doing nothing but going about their business.”

The magistrate handed Mooka a $750 fine referred to SPER and no conviction was recorded due to her young age.