Tesla, Penrith carpark: Katherine Breen-Davies sentenced for keying a Tesla
A woman who admitted to keying a new Tesla in a western Sydney carpark has told a court she “deeply regretted her actions” and had been incensed by what she’d witnessed before it was parked. Watch the viral video.
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A woman who admitted to keying a new Tesla in a Penrith carpark earlier this year has escaped a conviction.
Katherine Breen-Davies pleaded guilty to a charge of malicious damage earlier this month, and was sentenced in Katoomba Local Court on Monday.
A video of Breen-Davies went viral when the Tesla’s Sentry Mode caught her using her keys to create a large scratch along its passenger side in the Westfield Penrith carpark on February 23.
Court documents say she stopped part-way through to check if anyone was watching before continuing to scratch the car valued at $110,000.
Owner Darren Pearce later uploaded the footage to Facebook which was shared more than 26,000 times.
Breen-Davies admitted her actions when visited by police shortly after the incident, and signed a picture of her keying the car.
Her lawyer told the court she worked in the disability sector, and became angry when the driver of the Tesla “cut off an old man to get into a disabled parking spot”.
He said when she confronted the driver about it, he just shrugged and laughed it off. When she found the car parked in the same spot after she was finished shopping, she keyed it.
The lawyer said the subsequent fame of the video had a negative impact on Breen-Davies, saying many people made “derogatory and demeaning” comments about her physical appearance.
He said she “wasn’t proud” and “deeply regretted her actions”.
He requested a conditional release order, but Magistrate Leanne Robinson advised him she was unable to do that without Breen-Davies in the courtroom.
Magistrate Robinson later said dismissal of the charge was not appropriate, describing it as a “deliberate act”.
Breen-Davies later attended court and was sentenced to the conditional release order, meaning she has no conviction on her criminal record.