Karleis Auda pleads guilty to being a public nuisance

A young single mother was ‘yelling, swearing and pushing chairs’ at a popular regional pub after someone made racist slurs. DETAILS

Karleis Auda was sentenced for public nuisance at the Proserpine Magistrates Corut on December 18, 2023. Picture: Contributed

A Whitsundays single mother was “yelling, swearing and pushing chairs” at a popular Proserpine bar after someone made racist slurs.

Her soliticold told Proserpine Magistrates Court she should have just left, rather than acting out as a way to resolve anything.

Karleis Auda, 23, was at the Prince of Wales hotel on a Friday when she reacted after another patron insulted her.

Prosecutor Lachlan Perry said Auda had started yelling, swearing and pushing chairs after a patron called her a “black m*key” at about 9.40pm on June 2.

Mr Perry added that Auda had started to become aggressive towards the hotel’s staff and had refused to leave the premises when asked to do so.

He also said that she had two prior convictions for being a public nuisance.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service lawyer Phil Moore said CCTV footage at the hotel showed Auda’s behaviour had not been overly violent and that she did try to step away when she went to the beer garden.

“If I can put it this way, there was some exchange, some stuff wiped out from (the staff)’s hands, as well as complaining about racism,” Mr Moore said.

“She wasn’t involved in any violence.”

Magistrate Michelle Howard asked Mr Moore if he was suggesting that she had not pushed over the bar’s chairs, to which he said she did do so.

“She should have just left, rather than think she had the ability to resolve anything,” he said.

Auda, a single mother, pleaded guilty to being a public nuisance and to failing to leave licensed premises.

Ms Howard told Auda her behaviour had been “quite inappropriate” and that she would record convictions this time, as she had managed to avoid having convictions recorded on previous similar offences in 2019.

She was also fined $500.

Originally published as Karleis Auda pleads guilty to being a public nuisance