Jessica Aitchison: Miss Nude Sydney turned rapper Jackel appeals sentence
There were emotional scenes in court as a stripper-turned-rapper made a frank admission as she appealed her prison sentence for permanently disfiguring a young woman.
Central Sydney
Don't miss out on the headlines from Central Sydney. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A former Miss Nude Sydney winner has successfully appealed against an 18 month jail sentence for wounding a young woman in a late night pub fight in 2018.
Jessica Aitchison will instead serve the term of imprisonment by way of an intensive corrections order after Judge Christopher O’Brien allowed her District Court appeal on Tuesday.
Wearing a black suit covering her extensive tattoos, the 27-year-old sat in tears at the front of the courtroom before a beaming smile broke out across her face when the ruling was revealed.
The Maroubra stripper-turned-rapper, known by the stage name Jackel, had in the Local Court denied recklessly wounding Lauren Cameron in the smoking area of Oxford St’s Burdekin Hotel in the early hours of July 29, 2018.
However, her story changed dramatically after being found guilty and sentenced to a stint behind bars in December, with the court hearing she displayed “delayed remorse”.
Kiwi-born Aitchison now took responsibility for hurling a thick plastic cup in the face of Ms Cameron, causing a permanent disfigurement to her lip, defence lawyer Mark Dennis said.
“She accepts her wrongdoing … she’s contrite,” he said.
Mr Dennis added that she has since sought anger management therapy.
Her co-accused and former boyfriend Reece Mobbs had pressured her to “go along” with the story that the duo were not involved in the incident, the court heard.
They had previously told the court an unknown patron was responsible for launching the plastic cup.
It was found in last year’s hearing that Mobbs spat at Ms Cameron before the then-pregnant Aitchison threw a cup at the victim, who had made “disparaging remarks about Soundcloud rappers”.
Tattoo artist Mobbs, 30, was concerned about another conviction being added to his criminal record, the court heard on Tuesday.
Both were convicted on December 12, 2019 after Aitchison pleaded not guilty to reckless wounding and Mobbs pleaded guilty to common assault.
The Crown argued against Aitchison’s appeal saying she had “lied” in her evidence before Magistrate Joan Baptie.
“(She said) I didn’t do this, I didn’t hear people abuse me,” the prosecutor said.
Judge O’Brien agreed the new submission was “at odds” with her conduct in the Local Court but said he could only take heed of her recent “acceptance of responsibility”.
He convicted her and imposed an 18 months intensive corrections order, starting from February 25, 2019, which requires Aitchison to undergo 300 hours of community service.