Tabitha, Liberty Wares in Taree court for Lansdowne party assault

The Mid-North Coast sisters were provoked by another woman who tipped vodka on them and hit one of them in the head with the bottle, a court heard.

Taree Local Court

Sisters who punched and stomped on another woman while she was on the ground clutching a bottle of vodka were not out “looking for trouble” in the lead up to a shocking incident caught on camera and shared on social media.

Taree Local Court heard on Monday, March 20, that Tabitha and Liberty Wares were physically provoked by the victim in the lead up to the assault on the night of August 5 at a party in Lansdowne, a small village northeast of Taree.

The sisters, who are both from Lansdowne, pleaded guilty to a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company and appeared before Magistrate Allison Hawkins for sentencing.

Tabitha is 20-years-old and 22 weeks pregnant, and Liberty is 19.

The court heard the victim provoked the pair after being asked to leave a party - pouring vodka on them and then hitting Tabitha in the head with the bottle.

Tabitha Wares. Picture: Facebook

Both Tabitha and Liberty’s lawyers told the court that while physical provocation was a factor in the assault, the sisters accepted that their reactions were disproportionate and they take full responsibility for their actions.

According to documents tendered to the court, Tabitha and Liberty had been at the Lansdowne Bowling and Recreation Club on the night of August 5 drinking with friends.

The victim had been drinking at her home in Lansdowne and, according to court documents, was not known to the sisters.

After leaving the club around 9pm a group of people including Tabitha and Liberty went to a house party in the village where there was a fire in the front yard.

During the party aerosol cans were thrown into the flames causing loud explosions that could be heard across the small village and at one point Liberty, who was 18 at the time of the assault, tried to stomp on the fire but burnt her shoes.

Lansdowne Bowling and Recreation Club.

The victim walked over to the house to join the party, staggering and clearly intoxicated clutching a bottle of vodka, calling people her family and embracing them, according to police facts.

She was asked to leave on several occasions and was finally escorted out of the property onto the front lawn.

It was there that she poured the contents of the vodka bottle she had brought to the party over the sisters and then swung the bottle hitting Tabitha on the side of her head causing pain and bruising.

According to police facts Tabitha yelled: “F***ing tip a drink on me ya dog c**t.”

The sisters reacted, punching the victim and then continued to punch and stomp on her when she was down on the ground, the court heard.

The fight was captured on Snapchat video and shared, tagging the two sisters.

The video was played in court and the victim could be seen on the ground with her legs up to protect herself and bystanders could be heard urging the sisters to stop.

They had to be pulled away from the victim who then returned to the Lansdowne Bowling and Recreation Club where staff called police and paramedics.

She had her shirt pulled up over her face to stop the bleeding and sustained cuts to her face around the eyes and to the inside of her lips, according to court documents.

In sentencing magistrate Allison Hawkins recognised the women were “not out looking for someone to bash” but had been physically provoked.

Ms Hawkins told the court that while “alcohol fuelled violence is completely unacceptable” their behaviour was out of character and they were both “very unlikely to be back in court in the future”.

The court heard Liberty’s football career had been put on hold due to the bail conditions imposed following the assault and that Tabitha was undertaking an eyelash technician course with the view to starting her own business.

They were both given a two-year community release order with no conviction recorded.