Miranda Maxwell sentenced over Mannering Park Big 4 Caravan Park glassing assault
It’s been nearly five years since Miranda Maxwell smashed a wine glass over the head of a Mannering Park caravan park owner. A unique set of circumstances caused the delay and she has finally been sentenced.
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A unique set of circumstances has led to a woman avoiding full time jail after smashing a wine glass over another woman’s head at a Mannering Park caravan park.
Miranda Maxwell, 38, was convicted of reckless wounding and given a two year intensive corrections order in Gosford District Court on Friday, nearly five years after committing the offence.
An ICO is the equivalent of a jail sentence served in the community.
The court heard on October 5, 2015 Maxwell smashed a wine glass over the head of the Big 4 Mannering Park caravan owner Roseann Paull.
Just five weeks after the offence, Maxwell was arrested in Western Australia after attacking a 69-year-old man with a wine glass. The court heard the man suffered stab wounds to his head from the incident.
Ms Maxwell spent 18 months in a WA jail before moving to Queensland to serve her parole period.
During that time NSW police secured a DNA match to Maxwell, taken from the wine glass at Mannering Park, however they were unable to extradite Maxwell while she was on parole for a different offence. The day her parole ended, a warrant was executed and she was extradited to NSW.
While she has been on parole, the court heard Maxwell had turned her life around; was no longer drinking alcohol, secured a job, volunteered with the State Emergency Services (SES) and looked after her sons.
Earlier this week, Maxwell took to the stand saying she made a decision to turn her life around while she was in jail and hasn’t looked back.
“I now try to find things in life to even out the scale of things I have done in the past,” she said.
“I am very ashamed of my past. I believe that I have grown so much and gained so much
knowledge, tools and respect.”
The court heard Maxwell was visiting her mum for her birthday in October 2015 when she attended the caravan park.
Mrs Paull was staying there with her mother on the night of October 15 when they decided to have one last cigarette before heading to bed around 10.30pm. Then from nearby they heard a voice “are you talking to me?”
Mrs Paull spoke to Maxwell, who was holding a glass and bottle of wine. Maxwell told her she was having a bad day.
The conversation oddly turned to the wild ducks that walked by and Maxwell said “I love ducks. Who would want to f**king holiday at Manno anyway”. Mrs Paull responded, “well you’re here too”.
Shortly after Maxwell approached Mrs Paull who told her to “get the f**k off my property” before Maxwell lunged forward and grabbed the collar of Mrs Paull’s shirt before she hit her over the head twice with the wine glass.
The glass shattered and Mrs Paull’s mum grabbed her daughter and pulled her into the van and locked the door.
Mrs Paull sustained a large scalp laceration over her left temple which extended to the back part of her ear.
Maxwell told the court she had been trying to face the offence, but had to wait for her parole period to end. She pleaded guilty to the offence in March this year and said the offence “deserves punishment”.
Judge Tanya Bright outlined a criminal history from assault to damaging property offences, along with a history of drug and alcohol abuse. She also noted the seriousness and unprovoked nature of the glassing in Mannering Park and the affects it would have had on the victim.
However she acknowledged how Maxwell had rehabilitated, gained employment as a traffic controller and taken courses to further her career over the past two years.
Judge Bright said the delay in time since the offence and significant rehabilitation undertaken by Maxwell warranted a “significant degree of leniency”.
“There is no doubt she is significantly committed to her future … it is highly unlikely she will reoffend again,” she said.