Berkeley Vale: Natalie and Cameron Waite sentenced after neighbour glassed at street party

An impromptu street party turned nasty after too many drinks with one woman left “permanently disfigured” when a neighbour glassed her in the face, a court has heard.

Natalie Maree Waite glassed the victim to the side of her face leaving her permanently disfigured and with a twitch. (File image)

Alcohol fuelled violence is a scourge on society and has to be “stopped’ according to a magistrate who sentenced a woman with no criminal record to the equivalent of jail.

Natalie Maree Waite, 44, and her husband Cameron Duane Waite, 46, faced Wyong Local Court on Monday where she pleaded guilty to reckless wounding and he pleaded guilty to assault and intimidation.

The court heard the pair were drinking with neighbours during an impromptu street party when Cameron Waite started arguing with a young man over how much noise he made leaving for work in the morning.

An agreed set of facts states the neighbours had known each other for about seven years and had always gotten along but tempers started to fray as they all became “more intoxicated over time”.

The two men squared up to one another with Cameron Waite flicking his neighbour’s hat off his head as other residents at the party told them to “let it go”.

Natalie Maree Waite, 44, glassed her neighbour in Black Swan St, Berkeley Vale on March 4, 2023, during a drunken street party. Picture: Google

Both men vented their frustration with the neighbour saying “come on then, do something” while Cameron Waite said “I feel like punching him in the head, he just doesn’t know when to stop”.

The court heard the neighbour’s mum, aged in her 40s, stepped in to “play peacemaker” when Natalie Waite moved forward and struck the woman in the face with a glass in her hand.

Police and paramedics were called to Black Swan St, Berkeley Vale, after the wounding. (File image)

The woman read a victim impact statement to the court where she described how she “regretted looking at my face” shortly after the incident and was worried the force of the blow might have triggered her epilepsy.

She was taken to Gosford Hospital where scans revealed she had three pieces of glass embedded in her face so deep she required surgery.

She said she suffered three eye infections and could not wet her face for four weeks after the initial surgery and has since had a second surgery.

The woman said she was “left with a twitch” that required an injection four times a year.

“My face is permanently disfigured,” she said.

Natalie Waite’s lawyer said she just “reacted” to seeing her husband being pushed in a “violent environment” and forgot she had a glass in her hand, which was reflected in his client being charged with “reckless” wounding rather than having any intent.

But Magistrate Kirralee Perry said alcohol fuelled violence was “catastrophic” and despite Natalie Waite having no criminal record, she had “crossed the threshold” to warrant jail.

She convicted her and sentenced her to 12 months jail to be served as an intensive correction order (ICO) with a $1100 fine.

An ICO is considered by the court to be the equivalent of a jail sentence but served in the community.

Ms Perry convicted Cameron Waite of common assault and intimidation, fined him $1200 and put him on a 12-month community correction order.

Ms Perry also ordered both Waites to abstain from alcohol or illicit drugs for the duration of their orders.

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