Frankston mum Katie Terrens pleads guilty to recklessly cause injury after St Kilda ambush attack

A Frankston mum claimed she lured two friends into a violent St Kilda ambush because she was sold dodgy drugs.

Katie Terrens pleaded guilty to recklessly cause injury. Facebook.

A Frankston mum lured two former friends into a trap where they were savagely bashed by “burly” men in St Kilda.

Katie Terrens, 27, was sentenced in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday to an 18-month community correction order after pleading guilty to recklessly cause injury.

Terrens, who knew her victims for five years, arranged via Facebook to meet her former friends at a St Kilda property for a “catch up” just after 8.30pm on June 30, 2019.

The court heard Terrens led the victims down a shared driveway to the rear of a property where two unknown co-offenders were hiding behind a fence.

The victims, a male and a female, were attacked, taken to the ground and kicked in the face and body, the court was told.

Terrens, who was knocked to the ground, pulled the female victim’s hair and bit her cheek.

The two unknown offenders fled the scene with property belonging to a victim which included a laptop, a beach bag of clothes, jewellery and some personal cards.

Terrens, who fled the scene separately, left her phone at the property but returned shortly after to search for it.

The court heard Terrens fled again after she couldn’t find her phone.

In the meantime, multiple members of the public who heard the altercation called 000

Police arrived and photographed injuries sustained by the victims.

The victims were transported to hospital for treatment on their respective injuries which included fractures, bruises and a broken nose for the female.

Police, who linked Terrens to the assault via her phone, arrested the young mum at her Frankston home on November 15, 2019.

Terrens told investigators she “didn’t do that” when quizzed about the assaults.

The defence submitted material including a Herald Sun article published earlier this year and an apology letter Terrens wrote to her victims.

The court heard the altercation sparked after Terrens alleged a victim sold her “tainted” drugs back in 2014 which caused her to suffer a long-term illness.

Terrens alleged the drugs contained battery acid.

“The purpose of the confrontation was to address that issue (of the drugs),” the defence submitted.

“I believe the two co-offenders had also taken these drugs, they all agreed that they wanted to address it and effectively an altercation has broken out …

“(A victim) has seen there are two burly men present … (Terrens) has become involved once she falls to the ground she becomes embroiled in the altercation at that stage.

“She’s not an initiator of that … to her mind she didn't anticipate that it would become so violent.”

“Seems a bit of a contrast to the fact she leads the people down the back of the property …,” Deputy Chief Magistrate Tim Bourke said.

“ (Terrens) leads them down basically to a trap … the assault then occurs.”

The defence, which conceded Terrens “played an organisational role” in the offending, submitted the mum hasn’t disclosed the names of the co-offenders because she’s “too fearful”.

The defence also submitted an earlier Herald Sun article was a “source of embarrassment” for Terrens.

“The story will haunt her online for some time,” the defence submitted.

“Certainly it’s been a deep source of embarrassment.”

“This would have always made the paper regardless …,” Mr Bourke responded.

“The internet is not a bruise-free environment, do something wrong you expose yourself … you do these things and it’s there …

“I accept it's a bit of extracurricular punishment … but that’s the world we’re in, you can’t complain, if you’re going to participate on the internet then you can’t complain about what it does back to you.”

The court heard Terrens, a mum, with no priors, is at TAFE and hopes to be involved in youth social work.

Terrens, who avoided a conviction, was fined $2000 and ordered to undertake rehabilitation programs and courses.

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