Katherine Peterson: Vaucluse woman in court for stealing CCTV cameras on Derby St

It was an act which shocked the infamously genteel streets of Vaucluse, when not one — but three — security cameras were stolen in a single day by a resident who claimed she was “under attack”, a court has heard.

A Vaucluse woman believed she “was under attack” from a bizarre litany of enemies, including Russian spies, x-ray beams and communist assassins, when she removed a series of CCTV cameras from her neighbour’s home, a court heard.

Katherine Peterson, 51, appeared at Downing Centre Local Court on Friday having previously pleaded guilty to one charge of larceny.

The court heard Peterson stole three Arlo CCTV cameras, valued at $738, from a neighbouring Derby St, Vaucluse, property on March 12.

According to agreed police facts, the owner of these recently purchased cameras placed the first one at the entrance of her driveway around 6pm on March 12.

Just over an hour later, this woman received a phone notification alerting her to motion and the camera’s removal.

Katherine Peterson leaving Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court. Picture: Odessa Blain.

Ten minutes later, Peterson’s neighbour installed a second camera in the same position, and soon received a similar notification on her phone, a court heard.

At 9pm, with both cameras now removed and a new one in place, the neighbour watched the live stream until she saw Peterson remove this camera and flee across their quiet Vaucluse street to her neighbouring home, the court heard.

Peterson was visited by police the very next day, on March 13. Picture: Odessa Blain.

The following day, police entered Peterson’s home to say she was depicted on CCTV committing an offence, a court heard.

After this, Peterson paused before stating, “I’ll get you the cameras, but I was under attack,” court documents state.

She returned the operational and undamaged cameras to police, a court heard.

According to documents tendered to Downing Local Court, Peterson had experienced several interactions with police after suffering from episodes of mental illness.

“(Peterson) appears to be under the impression that there are spies in her street spying on her and that she is being attacked … (she) is clearly suffering from an undiagnosed mental health condition and is not in a clear state of mind,” court documents state.

“(After Peterson returned the cameras), she spoke about numerous topics such as communism, Russian spies, assassins, X-ray beams and even the different races of people surrounding her spying on her,” court documents state.

Earlier this year, Peterson appeared via videolink at Waverley Local Court and uttered the bizarre words “it’s actually a Chinese box” when the Optus 5G mobile phone towers on the Vaucluse street were referenced in court.

This episode relates to separate allegations, where police charged Peterson in connection with three counts of attempting to ignite Optus 5G mobile phone towers in Vaucluse between October 2021 and April of this year.

On Friday, at Downing Centre Local Court, Magistrate Michael Barko said Peterson clearly suffers from paranoia and delusion.

“She believed they were all out to get her,” Mr Barko said, also referencing the 5G phone towers Peterson believed were installed by the Chinese government.

This charge of larceny first came before the court on April 29 and Peterson entered a plea of guilty.

On Friday, Mr Barko dismissed the matter on mental health grounds, with the condition Peterson is to comply with any community treatment orders she is assigned.