Beauty boss fined for foul-mouthed call to her employee
A scuffle erupted outside a Sydney court after a failed cosmetic clinics boss was convicted for unleashing a torrent of abuse on her employee.
A scuffle erupted outside court after a failed cosmetic clinic boss was convicted for unleashing a foul-mouthed tirade at a former employee, whom she accused of having an affair with her ex-husband.
Juliet Young appeared in Sydney Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to intimidating Jill O’Donnell on May 17, 2022.
She previously held a prominent role at Injectable Institute Australia, a chain of cosmetic clinics which collapsed in February.
Outside court, the 45-year-old was confronted by an emotional former patient of the clinic who had watched the sentencing proceedings.
A video reveals a commotion occurred when the woman approached Young and her husband Belal Hamdan, and was rebuffed by a black umbrella.
Hamdan used the umbrella to shield their faces as the convicted couple rushed to a nearby taxi.
They had learned their fate only minutes ago for a foul-mouthed tirade against Young’s employee over the phone.
The court heard Young had become “fixated” on her suspicions Ms O’Donnell was sleeping with her former partner, who also worked for the now-defunct cosmetic clinics.
Her lawyer Ian Lloyd said she was motivated by “misguided jealousy” and acted out of “spite” when she called her employee and unleashed a vicious tirade.
Young’s new husband Hamdan admitted to two counts of intimidation after he facilitated the foul-mouthed harassment of two of Young’s employees.
The agreed facts reveal Hamdan intimidated his wife’s former neighbour, calling him a “f***ing low life” and a “f***ing dog” for allegedly siding with Dwayhi after the break up.
In addition to the vicious verbal attack, the court heard he intimidated the 18-year-old by poking him in the chest and nudging him. The teen had also worked for Young at the cosmetic clinics, the court heard.
Hamdan and Young then called Ms O’Donnell on the phone and screamed unprovoked abuse at her, according to the court documents.
“You’re a f***ing dog s***,” Young yelled at the other woman.
“I hope your f***ing father dies, you f***ing little dog.”
She went on to call Ms O’Donnell “disgusting” and said she wouldn’t pay out her employee’s annual leave.
Mr Lloyd told the court Ms O’Donnell asked for time off to care for her sick father, but Young believed she actually spent the time with her ex-husband.
Her husband joined in the foul tirade, accusing Ms O’Donnell of being a homewrecker and destroying Young’s previous relationship.
“You f***ing little skanky little slut you are,” he berated her.
“You’re a little f***ing whore. That’s what you do, you break up families, you little f***ing whore.”
The court documents reveal Young called her former employee 11 times in just half an hour before 10pm as Ms O’Donnell told a friend she was having a panic attack.
The court heard the derogatory phone call “inflicted that much fear” in Ms O’Donnell that she didn’t return to her home for a week because she was scared someone would come to her house and hurt her.
“The impact on Ms O’Donnell was quite significant,” crown prosecutor Hannah Fitzgerald said.
Mr Lloyd said Young had acted out of “spite” when she furiously berated her former employee and caused her to fear for her wellbeing.
“There’s no actual threat as such,” he said about the phone call.
“She’s clearly learnt a timely lesson that (when) relationship difficulties happen, to leave them well alone.”
Judge Susan Horan noted she had expressed remorse for her actions, but found “the criminality of her actions” warranted a conviction.
She fined Young $1000 for her part in terrifying Ms O’Donnell.
The court heard Hamdan was handed a harsher sentence for his two intimidation offences due to his criminal history and the physical intimidation of the 18-year-old neighbour.
He was sentenced to two community corrections orders of one year and two years respectively.
“I would not describe the offending as trivial in nature,” Judge Horan said.
Young remains embroiled in another legal battle as liquidators for her Botox company enact a plan to pursue her for more than $500,000.
Liquidators for Injectable Institute Australia suggested the move after the company folded in February following the sudden death of its owner, Michael Zillig.
The liquidators allege Young was a “shadow director” of the company who had access to the company’s bank accounts, controlled the funds, and executed loan agreements.
The cosmetic company owed more than $2m to hundreds of creditors when it collapsed.
Read related topics:Sydney