Sunita Brungardt pleads guilty to slapping woman in Ocean St attack

A Sunshine Coast mother has admitted to delivering a brutal smack to a woman on Ocean St after mistakenly thinking her victim elbowed her at a venue earlier in the night.

Sunita Brungardt leaving Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Tuesday. Picture: Sam Turner

A Sunshine Coast stay-at-home must pay a woman hundreds of dollars after brutally slapping her in a case of mistaken identity.

Sunita Brungardt levelled the harsh strike to the woman’s face in the bellows of Ocean St in what Maroochydore Magistrates Court heard on Monday was a case of attacking the wrong woman.

Police prosecutor Bec Lambert told the court on Monday the victim was with friends in Ocean St about 1.30am on January 5 when the 28-year-old started screaming in her face.

Brungardt slapped the women in the face, which caused her glasses to fall onto the ground.

The strike caused the woman to suffer minor cuts to the inside of her mouth and bleeding from an ear piercing.

“You had what was coming … s--t, c--t, b---h,” Sergeant Lambert quoted Brungardt telling the victim before a male friend ushered the mother away.

The assault was reported to police, with officers finding Brungardt still in the Maroochydore Safe Night Precinct. She told police she believed the victim had elbowed her in the face at a nightclub earlier in the evening.

The court heard Brungardt explained how she assaulted the woman while she was slumped up against a loading dock wall while visibly drunk.

She pleaded guilty to one charge. Picture: Sam Turner

Officers spoke to her again on January 22, where Brungardt felt bad because she thought she attacked the wrong person. Police confirmed this to the 28-year-old, and said the victim was never in the venue that night. She expressed remorse to officers and wanted her apology to be passed on to the woman.

Duty lawyer Ben Rynderman said the mother-of-three, who had no criminal history, had been adjusting to the end of a long-term relationship when she was out that evening and had only been out on nights like that four times in her life and did not normally drink.

Magistrate Haydn Stjernqvist said the victim was “completely blameless” and had nothing to do with Brungardt being hit.

Brungardt pleaded guilty to assault in public while adversely affected and was ordered to complete 40 hours’ community service. She must pay $400 in compensation to the “still bewildered” victim.

No conviction was recorded.

Originally published as Sunita Brungardt pleads guilty to slapping woman in Ocean St attack