Sydney dog trainer sentenced over bloody attack on neighbour

A respected dog trainer who filmed herself admitting to stabbing her neighbour with a knife has told a court why she did it.

A respected dog trainer who filmed herself admitting to stabbing her neighbour after a bloody altercation in Sydney’s eastern suburbs acted out of “excessive self-defence”, a court has been told.

Courtnie Alexandria Donlan, 29, fronted Downing Centre Local Court for sentencing on Monday after pleading guilty to intimidation, reckless wounding and wielding a knife in public.

Donlan was arrested after slashing her neighbour with a kitchen knife following a drinking session. In a video she filmed, she said: “I’m about to go to fucking jail cause I stabbed some c**t.”

Lawyer Dean Woodbury told the court that Donlan, who has severe mental health issues, acted “disproportionately” to what she saw as a threat, having told police she’d been pinned against a wall.

Eastern suburbs dog trainer Courtnie Alexandria Donlan was sentenced over an attack on her neighbour. Picture: Facebook

“She perceived, in her house, that she was under threat from a man she did not know. It was clearly a disproportionate response,” Mr Woodbury told magistrate Clare Farnan.

He went on to add: “It was an account she provided to police at the time and to her psychologist as well. It was something she believed, but plainly not reasonable in the circumstances.”

Mr Woodbury said Donlan had faced severe disadvantage since a young age and had spent time homeless, including living out of a toilet block at Sydney’s famed Coogee Beach.

“Life is going to be a struggle for her but what is noteworthy is that while in custody she seeks out support. A lot of people in her position don't have the capacity for self-help,” he said.

Ms Farnan said police had accepted that Donlan acted out of “excessive self-defence” and sentenced her to a 15-month intensive corrections order to be served in the community.

“The prosecution has accepted the plea of guilty on the basis they accept they cannot negatise that in fact Ms Donlan did fear for her safety, but that what she did in response to that perception was not a reasonable response in the circumstances as she perceived them to be,” Ms Farnan told the court.

The court was told Donlan acted with ‘excessive self-defence’. Picture: Facebook

She said it was “lucky” the victim had not suffered more severe injuries, and Donlan’s “relationship with dogs had been a significant factor in her dealing with her mental health issues”.

Court documents reveal Donlan was walking her dogs outside her apartment block in Malabar in the early hours of June 11 last year when she crossed paths with her neighbour, Aaron Holten.

The 38-year-old asked her for a cigarette and Donlan invited the man up to her apartment where they chatted for hours while drinking vodka and Redbull before Donlan asked him to leave.

Mr Holten is not accused of any wrongdoing, and the court was told he said to police he had only been abruptly asked to leave the residence.

The documents state that as he was collecting his belongings, Mr Holten spotted Donlan carrying a kitchen knife before raising it and stabbing him in the arm as he attempted to shield himself.

The altercation spilt out into the common area of the apartment complex where a witness saw Donlan pointing the knife at her neighbour, who threw a laundry basket at the dog trainer.

Donlan was released after seven months in custody on remand. Picture: Bark

The incident lasted about 15 minutes and ended after Mr Holten threw a rock in Donlan’s direction. He ran for help after realising he was in a “bad way” and was rushed to hospital.

Medical records showed the 38-year-old sustained a deep 1.7cm stab wound to his right upper arm, a puncture wound to his chest, and a deep 1.4cm laceration to his ring finger.

When police arrived, they noticed a trail of blood droplets along the footpath before spotting Donlan, who had what appeared to be blood splatters on her T-shirt and bruises.

Photos of the dog trainer’s injuries show a large bruise on her shoulder, a cut on her neck, and injuries on her legs and hands, though she told police she did not know how she got them.

While she struggled to remember the night, erratic videos recorded by Donlan shed light to investigators.

At 7.34am, she said in a video: “Bruh, I just let some random dude in my house.”

Four hours later, another video showed her in a distressed state with blood on her face.

“Guys I’m not even kidding. F***ing c**t tried to f***ing attack me,” the 29-year-old said.

She filmed another five videos in quick succession that ranged from telling a friend “I just stabbed some c**t” to providing instructions on how to care for her dogs in her absence.

“I think I’m about to go to f***ing jail cause I stabbed some c**t,” Donlan recorded herself saying. “I f***ing tried so f***ing hard but this f***ing c**t pushed my buttons.

“There’s so much f***ing blood and I don’t know.”

Donlan promotes herself as a specialist in obedience, puppy training and behaviour modification.