Insurance officer fronts court for wild casino brawl

CCTV captured the Townsville woman pushing and punching a teen outside The Ville when a long-running “feud” turned violent.

A LENGTHY “high school” feud between a Townsville insurance officer and a teen led to a wild and serious late night assault at a casino.

Isla Ann Paneccasio, 19, followed a woman out of the The Ville Resort-Casino on March 6 before she bashed her in a carpark when a long-running dispute turned violent.

She pleaded guilty to one charge of assault occasioning bodily harm in the Townsville Magistrates Court on Monday.

The court heard Paneccasio “offered to fight” the 19-year-old victim who “she wanted to assault months ago” and repeatedly yelled and swore at her before physically engaging her.

Prosecutor Cassandra Nitz said CCTV captured Paneccasio pushing the teen to the ground, before she “pulled her hair” and punched her in the head five times.

Isla Paneccasio pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm in the Townsville Magistrates Court. Photo: Facebook.

Ms Nitz said the incident was violence for the sake of being violent and said the victim felt significant pain and discomfort as a result of the altercation.

Paneccasio handed herself in to police three weeks after the altercation and said she “assaulted her out of anger” Ms Nitz said.

Ms Nitz said the maximum penalty for the offence was seven years imprisonment.

Paneccasio’s lawyer Jessica Shuttleworth said her client had been employed as a full-time admin officer at North Queensland Insurance Brokers since 2019 and likened the assault to “high school drama that got out of control”.

Ms Shuttleworth said Paneccasio was embarrassed by her actions and had written a letter of apology to her victim.

She said the violence was out of character and suggested a term of probation was an appropriate punishment.

Magistrate Steven Mosch said Paneccasio was “mixing in a circle where there was bad blood” and described her behaviour as “appalling” having used “foul and disgusting language” before engaging in physical violence.

“You are not in high school anymore,” Mr Mosch said.

“You can be seen clearly pushing her backwards causing her to fall to the ground,” he said.

Paneccasio was sentenced to 12 months probation for the offence.

No conviction was recorded.

Originally published as Insurance officer fronts court for wild casino brawl