Apprentice jockey Sariah Skye Champkin, 23, pleads guilty to public nuisance following appeal

The young jockey accused of stabbing her roommate with scissors has been cleared of assault charges following a successful appeal.

Jockey Sariah Champkin. Picture: File

A young jockey has escaped punishment after police dropped their case against her.

On Tuesday, Gold Coast born trainee jockey Sariah Skye Champkin, 23, pleaded guilty to committing a public nuisance in Toowoomba Magistrates Court, putting an end to her months long legal dispute.

The plea comes after Ms Champkin was accused of stabbing her former roommate with a pair of horse grooming shears during an altercation outside their Newtown home.

She pleaded not guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm at a trial in July of this year.

The court heard Ms Champkin confronted her former roommates outside their shared property after discovering several missing items while packing to move.

Ms Champkin testified she physically fought with her roommate because felt fearful for her safety but denied “stabbing” the woman.

“I did push the (blunt) scissors while they were shut down on the back of her neck,” Ms Champkin said in her testimony.

Ms Champkin rejected claims she started the fight and implored it was her roommate who threw the first punch.

Sariah Skye Champkin was cleared of assault occasioning bodily harm following a successful appeal. Picture: Kevin Farmer

The young jockey was initially charged and sentenced for assault occasioning bodily harm at trial; however, her conviction was overturned when a district court found a defence of self-defence was not properly addressed.

“Several other defences were also raised, her honour addressed those … but did not in any way address the defence of self-defence,” Judge Alexander Horneman-Wren SC said at the time.

“(However) in my view the defence of self-defence clearly arose on the evidence and her honour’s failure to direct herself upon that defence and consider that defence was an error which requires correction on appeal,” he said.

On Tuesday, police advised the court they would offer no evidence to the assault occasioning bodily harm charge following case conferencing conducted outside of court.

Instead, they charged Ms Champkin with a lesser offence of committing a public nuisance.

She was convicted of the charge but was not punished further.

Her conviction was not recorded.

Originally published as Apprentice jockey Sariah Skye Champkin, 23, pleads guilty to public nuisance following appeal