Maria Rose Carney pleads guilty to assault in Ballina Local Court after punching neighbour in head
A Ballina woman taunted her neighbour before punching her in the head from behind on the street, a court heard.
Police & Courts
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A Ballina woman punched her neighbour in the head from behind and sent her tumbling to the ground in the midst of a long-running dispute.
Maria Rose Carney faced Ballina Local Court pleading guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm.
The 57-year-old and the victim lived in the same block of units on River St in Ballina at the time of the attack, court documents state.
There was conflict between the neighbours for a few months before the events of January 25.
Carney’s neighbour was walking along River St when Carney started to walk after her with a friend about 9am.
She said to her neighbour several times: “Turn around you s--t.”
The neighbour ignored Carney and continued walking, court documents state.
Carney approached the woman from behind and punched her in the side of her face, near her right ear, causing the victim to fall to the ground and land on her left arm.
“Carney tried to get the victim while she was on the ground but her friend held her back,” police state.
The neighbour went to Ballina Police Station to make a statement about the assault and officers noticed she was bleeding from a cut on her arm.
Carney was called to the police station, admitted “I hit her” and was arrested.
Defence lawyer Brodie Barker told the court on March 2 that Carney was “regularly threatened and called nasty names” by the victim.
“Ms Carney has put in a transfer to move away from the block of units … she is wanting to relocate,” she said.
Magistrate Kathy Crittenden said Carney was previously convicted for common assault and the facts of the case were “alarming”
“A punch to the ear caused the victim to fall to the ground on a public street … ,” Ms Crittenden said.
“She (the neighbour) landed on her arm, thank goodness.
“It’s never acceptable to resort to violence. There are always other ways to resolve conflict.”
Ms Crittenden placed Carney on a 12-month community corrections order.
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