Ngakayla Melissa Mackay: Dubbo woman learns fate for her part in group act of violence

A young Dubbo mother who was part of a mob who surrounded a victim’s house, throwing rocks and smashing a window, has been sentenced for her part in the melee.

A young Dubbo woman who was involved in a group act of violence which saw a victim’s window smashed, was sentenced on Wednesday.

Ngakayla Melissa Mackay, 21, pleaded guilty in Dubbo Local Court to one count of using violence to cause fear to someone’s personal safety after the incident on January 1 this year.

Documents tendered to Dubbo Local Court reveal that Mackay was a co-accused in the matter involving Radika Mackay and Jacob Mackay, whose cases were also before the court on Wednesday.

Police facts state there have been ongoing incidents between the victim and people from another house on Alcheringa Street in Dubbo.

Alcheringa Street, Dubbo. Picture: Google Maps.

The incident on January 1 saw someone attempt to kick the victim’s front door down after being refused entry at around 4am.

At around 5.30pm the same day, the victim was putting more CCTV cameras around her house when she spotted a male from a nearby house who she believed was involved in the incident.

The victim started to take photos on her mobile phone to assist with his identification, resulting in a group of residents who started shouting from across the road, verbally abusing her.

The group later grew to around 15-20 people and the verbal exchange became increasingly heated, with the victim fleeing in her car.

The victim’s partner drove the car back to the property at around 7pm, and Jacob and some of the group crossed the road, shouting at “who they believed was the victim”, according to police facts.

Court documents state that Jacob realised the victim wasn’t in the car, and CCTV footage caught him throwing a large metal pole at the front of the victim’s house with “significant force”.

Redika and Mackay along with other residents allegedly followed Jacob, throwing rocks and other objects at the house.

“The victim’s front bedroom window was smashed by all the objects which were thrown at it. It is not known exactly who threw the objects which destroyed the window,” police facts state.

“Police submit that (Jacob) and co-accused persons (including Redika and Mackay) used unlawful violence and that their actions taken together did cause people of reasonable firmness who were present to fear for their personal safety.”

Ngakayla Melissa Mackay appeared in Dubbo Local Court on Wednesday.

The court heard from Mackay’s lawyer, Arthur Nguyen, that the incident fell at the low end of objective seriousness and he appealed to Magistrate Theresa Hamilton to sentence the matter by way of a fine.

“It is conceded that there are objects that have been thrown through the victim’s bedroom window,” Mr Nguyen said.

He continued by saying his client had a very limited record, however he asked Magistrate Hamilton to take no action on a conditional release order which Mackay was sentenced for without conviction in May last year.

That incident involved reckless wounding by Mackay to her partner at the time, when she threw a pair of craft scissors his way.

As he was listening to loud music, he did not hear Mackay say “catch” and the blade of the scissors lodged into his waist area.

“The blade penetrated his skin, muscle layer and partial thickness of his iliac bone, the tip of the scissors being lodged within the bone. The wound was about 2cm deep,” documents reveal.

He was taken to Dubbo Base Hospital with a doctor describing the injury as minor. She was arrested later that day on November 4, 2020.

Mr Nguyen said Mackay was sorry for her actions, explaining that she was a victim of domestic violence herself.

In sentencing Mackay, Magistrate Hamilton disagreed with Mr Nguyen in his assessment of the first matter, saying it “is certainly not in the low category, where a very large group of people took very violent actions”.

She did concede it wasn’t exactly clear what role Mackay played, but according to the facts she was one of the main people involved.

“No doubt this would have been a terrifying incident for those involved,” Magistrate Hamilton said.

Meantime Magistrate Hamilton said that Mackay had been treated leniently by being handed a conditional release order for the previous offence, due to it being reckless rather than deliberate.

Although noting Mackay was young and had a baby to look after, Magistrate Hamilton said she should be re-sentenced for that offence as it was “another act of violence”.

Mackay was convicted and given a 12-months community corrections order for both matters.

Redika was also sentenced later in the day, entering a plea of guilty to one count of using violence to cause fear to someone’s personal safety. Her lawyer, Thomas Russell, revealed that there was a “degree of provocation” from the victim, including racial slurs used in the verbal exchange.

Redika was placed on a community corrections order for 15 months and convicted.

Jacob had his matter adjourned for a hearing on November 7 in Dubbo Local Court.