Valeria Soto: Neutral Bay woman assaulted manager of The Social at Bondi Junction

A woman kicked out of a Bondi cocktail bar who decided to literally take the fight to the venue’s licensee has fronted court, with her behaviour described as “ridiculous”.

A woman who pushed a bar manager in the chest has been slammed by a magistrate for her “ridiculous actions,” a court has heard.

Valeria Soto, 22, of Neutral Bay, was sentenced for assaulting the licensee of Bondi Junction venue The Social at Waverley Local Court on Wednesday.

According to facts tendered to court about 1.15am on Friday July 8 the woman and a friend began arguing with security after they were escorted from live music venue and cocktail bar The Social at Bondi Junction.

Security removed them from the club because they believed they were intoxicated, the facts state, however rather than moving on the pair remained outside the club.

When the pair refused to leave the premises the venue manager went outside and asked them several times to leave, while a security guard filmed the interaction on his phone and another called the police.

Valeria Soto outside Waverley Local Court.

Soto then pushed the club manager in the chest as she continued to argue she was not drunk, leading police to arrest her.

Police facts state the Neutral Bay woman was “intoxicated” as well as “argumentative, uncooperative and unsteady on her feet” when arrested.

However Soto told the court she “was under distress” at the time of the incident and had not been drinking.

“I never bought any drinks at that place,” Soto said. “I wasn’t drunk. I didn’t want to spend money on drinks,” she said, arguing she had simply been using the club’s bathroom when she was asked to leave.

Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge slammed the young woman’s actions as “ridiculous” and a letter submitted by Soto as “self-indulgent”.

While she accepted Soto may have experienced challenging behaviour from nightclub employees, the magistrate warned her violence against the law never led to positive outcomes.

Violence against “bouncers, police officers and the courts” would always see instigators “come off second best,” Magistrate Milledge said.

Magistrate Milledge found Soto guilty but did not convict her. The magistrate placed her on a good behaviour bond for 12 months.

“You make sure you abide by the rules,” Magistrate Milledge warned the young woman.

“Even if you think you’ve received unfair treatment you’ve got to walk away,” she said.