Katrina Maree Taunton: Corrections officer spared conviction for drunken work trip ‘scuffle’

A corrections officer from Dubbo who got into a drunken “scuffle” on a work trip has been spared a conviction by a Sydney magistrate.

Downing Centre Local Court. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

A Dubbo corrections officer who grabbed another employee by the arm after telling her to “get the f***” out” of her room during a work trip has been spared a conviction by a Sydney magistrate.

Katrina Maree Taunton pleaded guilty to common assault and was sentenced at Downing Centre Local Court last Thursday.

Agreed facts reveal the 48-year-old was due to attend a training workshop alongside other corrective services employees at UNSW on March 30 last year, however, she and another colleague “did not attend”.
Accommodation was arranged in Bondi Junction and later that evening, the victim – also a corrections officer – received a call from her manager to explain how a woman had returned to the hotel intoxicated and was refusing hospital treatment as she was bleeding from hitting her head.

The victim was told the woman was in Taunton’s room and she was “reluctantly” let in.

In attempting to assess the woman’s injuries, Taunton “eventually became agitated” and questioned who the victim was.

She became aggressive, telling the victim “I think it’s time for you to get the “f*** out of here”.

Taunton then approached the victim and grabbed her by the arm in an attempt to get her out of the room and a scuffle ensued.

The injured woman attempted to intervene and the victim left the room before calling police.

She did not sustain any injuries from the scuffle.

Police arrived a short time later and found Taunton and the injured woman in bed and after waking the pair up, they appeared to be “well affected” by alcohol.

Agreed facts state the two women were unable to hold a clear and coherent conversation and the injured woman was taken to hospital and Taunton to Waverley police station.

After pleading guilty to the assault charge, Magistrate Miranda Moody spared Taunton a conviction and dismissed the matter.