‘I’ve got COVID’: Drunk Brisbane mum coughs in bouncer’s face after caught in disabled toilets with a man
A young mum who coughed in the face of a security guard who kicked her out a tavern in Brisbane’s north also tried to hide groceries in her newborn’s pram in a separate incident.
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A drunken Brisbane mother used the threat of the coronavirus pandemic to assault a security officer who tried to kick her out of a pub in Brisbane’s north, the Pine Rivers Magistrates Court heard today.
The security officer confronted Kayla Maree Tavella, a 22-year-old mother and hairdressing apprentice, for entering the disabled toilets with another man at the Homestead Tavern in Boondall on July 11.
Police told the court Tavella refused to leave the pub and coughed in the security guard’s face, telling him she had tested positive for COVID-19.
Tavella pleaded guilty to the common assault charge, in addition to four charges of stealing at the Woolworths Burpengary on May 25.
The court heard Tavella stuffed groceries in her pram and was later intercepted by police with over $500 worth of stolen goods.
She later returned the groceries.
In a letter of apology to the court, Tavella said she was forced to steal because she was struggling with her Centrelink payments.
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Tavella, who Magistrate Melanie Ho noted had seven pages of criminal history, is already serving an 18 month suspended sentence for violent offences which predated the matters heard at Pine Rivers Magistrates Court today.
As such, Tavella was convicted and not further punished.
Ms Ho urged Tavella to put her past behind her and focus on forging a better future for herself and her child.
“That child needs you,” Ms Ho said to Tavella in court.
“You don’t want Child Safety stepping in.”