Former boxing national title holder attacks woman in Warwick

WOMAN suffers bleeding nose, bruising after assault outside a Warwick pub.

Warwick Court House

A WOMAN suffered a bleeding nose and bruising to the right side of her face after Kaitlin Gaye Stagg "snapped" outside a Warwick pub and punched her twice in the face.

In CCTV footage played at Warwick Magistrates Court yesterday, the victim could be seen sitting on the ground outside the Horse and Jockey Hotel before Stagg walked directly up to her and assaulted her.

Security guards then intervened to remove Stagg, who Magistrate Bevan Manthey said held a national title for boxing.

It was another episode of alcohol-fuelled violence that Mr Manthey said was a concern in Warwick.

"Everyone's got a right to go and have a drink at these premises and not be involved in a serious assault such as this," Mr Manthey said.

"Serious in the sense that it was unprovoked."

Stagg pleaded not guilty to one count of assault occasioning bodily harm in a public place while being adversely affected by an intoxicated substance.

Defence lawyer Bonnie O'Brien said Stagg's group of friends had an altercation with the victim's group of friends earlier in the evening.

The court heard Stagg had a limited memory of her attack on the victim because she was "quite intoxicated".

"My client had been drinking for several hours and then was drinking at the pub," Ms O'Brien said.

"She was extremely remorseful and embarrassed when she did remember."

Ms O'Brien said Stagg had experienced a difficult childhood as she was born with foetal alcohol syndrome and was also diagnosed with a range of conditions including a mild learning disability, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and attention deficit disorder (ADD).

Stagg is a mother of a one-year-old daughter with another baby on the way, Ms O'Brien said, and had moved to Toowoomba in the past couple of weeks.

Ms O'Brien said Stagg intended to seek counselling to understand why she acted violently towards her victim last September, but the woman did not sustain long-term serious injuries.

"This would be, for an assault occasioning bodily harm, more towards the lower end of the scale than the higher," Ms O'Brien said.

Magistrate Bevan Manthey said Stagg was fortunate the injuries weren't more serious.

He noted she was a "slight woman", but held a national title for boxing.

"Although this is at the lower end, it was out of the blue and went out towards a lady that was not expecting it and sitting on the footpath at the time," Mr Manthey said.

"A fine is not appropriate, it would be sending the wrong message not only to her but to others."

Mr Manthey said he had been consistent with his approach to assaults outside licensed premises, with jail time imposed when appropriate.

As Stagg had no criminal history and the injuries were not serious, Mr Manthey sentenced her to nine months jail but she was immediately released on parole.

He pressed that Stagg needed to address her issues with anger and alcohol in order to prevent re-offending and protect the community.

Originally published as Former boxing national title holder attacks woman in Warwick