Adelyn O’Keefe pleads guilty to unlawful assault

A woman who attacked another woman on a Belmont nature strip had a history of violence and was “triggered” by an insult, a court has heard.

Adelyn O'Keefe appeared in the Geelong Magistrates Court on Tuesday and pleaded guilty to unlawful assault.

A court has heard a woman who attacked another woman on Belmont nature strip had a history of violence.

Adelyn O’Keefe, 23, pleaded guilty to a single count of unlawful assault in Geelong Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

The court heard the victim had been at her now former partner’s house in Belmont on March 20 this year, along with O’Keefe and another woman, when an argument broke out between the victim and her partner.

The victim was told to pack her belongings and leave, which she did while on the phone to a friend.

The court heard that friend overheard the argument, which was a “dispute over a mobile phone charger”.

The victim left the address and began to walk away, when O’Keefe was heard to say: “let’s go get her” and attacked her from behind while she was still on the phone.
The court heard O’Keefe struck the woman 10 times with a closed fist, before grabbing her right arm and left leg and putting her on the ground.

A witness to the attack told police O’Keefe was “kicking and smacking her”.

The victim sought refuge at a nearby house until police arrived, having been called by her friend on the phone.

O’Keefe was interviewed in the presence of an independent third party.

She gave mostly no comment answers, but when asked if she wished to say anything further she said: “no, this is a load of bulls--t, amen”.

The court heard O’Keefe had committed a number of assaults over the past three years, and was on an adjourned undertaking at the time of the incident.

O’Keefe’s lawyer, Bill Sizeland, told the court his client had a significant intellectual disability and had endured a tough upbringing.

“This is a young woman trying to come to terms with a horrendous background,” he said.

“Her coping mechanisms aren’t as sufficient as would be the case with persons who didn’t have that disability.”

Mr Sizeland told the court at the time of the offences, O’Keefe was working through trauma related to a separate legal dispute.

The court heard the attack was a response to being insulted by the victim, with Mr Sizeland describing the insult as “particularly nasty” and directed at O’Keefe’s intellectual capacity, her appearance and “likening her to various animals”.

“Because of her manner and the way she relates to people, she’s often bullied and teased,” Mr Sizeland said.

“As she was leaving the house, a direct insult was made … and that unfortunately triggered (O’Keefe).”

Mr Sizeland said O’Keefe, who was in court with a support worker, had been doing well in a one-on-one program with her psychologist and had made strides in dealing with her impulse control and anger-management problems.

“There is every reason to hope that this intervention will prove to be significant and permanent,” he said.

O’Keefe was convicted and placed on a 12-month adjourned undertaking.

Originally published as Adelyn O’Keefe pleads guilty to unlawful assault