Woman who pushed police officer over at Melbourne Cup receives fine

THE woman who pushed a policeman over at the Melbourne Cup has been sanctioned for the shove that made national headlines.

THE woman who pushed a policeman over at the Melbourne Cup has been fined and ordered to pay the officer compensation.

Sarah Finn, 24, received an $800 fine after she pleaded guilty to one count of assaulting the senior officer and wilful damage on November 3.

Ms Finn sent acting Superintendent Steven Cooper flying into the flower bed outside the Flemington Racecourse in front of television cameras. The officer’s glasses broke in the fall.

She was also ordered to pay court costs of $117 as well as $150 for the glasses.

Acting Superintendent Steven Cooper after he is knocked down.

Sarah Finn pushing over Acting Superintendent Steven Cooper at Flemington Racecourse.

The incident happened just before Acting Supt Cooper had been about to speak to media about the behaviour of the 94,000 strong crowd when Ms Finn approached him.

After he fell she turned around and giggled and seemed surprised when she was quickly led away by officers.

She was seen chatting to members of the media just before the incident and Acting Supt Cooper said he believed she had made comments along the lines of “what do I have to do to get on the news?”.

The woman posted a message on Channel 7’s Facebook page saying: “You guys forgot to mention that you told me to do it.”

“She wanted her five minutes of fame and got it,” he told Melbourne radio station 3AW this morning.

However Seven News cameraman James Paul has denied she was told to do it. “No, no one said unequivocally go and push a police superintendent in the chest that will be a grand idea — no one at all said that at any point of time.”

At first, he thought the woman was a reporter and wondered what she wanted. “Very odd behaviour. She walked up to me and I thought ‘what’s she doing, is she just come over say hello or something ... Clearly not,” he told Channel 7.

He didn’t speak to her but the colleague who interviewed her indicated she wasn’t affected by alcohol.

“She’ll be charged with assault and damage because during the push she broke a pair of glasses.”

Following the incident last year, Ms Finn posted a new profile picture to her Facebook account of herself seated on a police motorcycle holding four packets of chips.

**UPDATE** Woman who pushed policeman on Melbourne Cup day fined $800. $200 in costs and compo for broken glasses. https://t.co/uyYllYsMEk

— 7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) February 11, 2016

Sarah Finn leaves the Magistate's Court. Picture: Jay Town

Originally published as Woman who pushed police officer over at Melbourne Cup receives fine