‘Persistent violence’: Natalie Walden, Kayla Pryor involved in drunken attack after wedding

Two members of a wedding party drinking at a popular venue have ended up in court after a mother and daughter attacked a random woman for getting too close to a man.

Kayla Pryor and Natalie Walden were both involved in a common assault on a stranger outside The Ville at 5am.

A mother and daughter who’d been celebrating at The Ville after a wedding, were just piling into a taxi at 5am, when they leapt out and assaulted a random woman.

CCTV footage of the incident was played in Townsville Magistrates Court on Tuesday, April 9 and showed what sparked the unprovoked attack.

Natalie Walden (also known as Natalie Pryor) was getting into a taxi with several other members of her family when she spotted a random woman approaching her husband and putting an arm around his waist momentarily.

In the footage, the stranger appeared to be uncoordinated and looking for directions, which the man quickly gave before walking away.

However Walden, 44, didn’t let the matter rest.

Natalie Maree Walden has pleaded guilty to common assault after shoving a woman outside The Ville at 5am.

The Burdekin grandmother got out of the taxi and crossed The Ville entrance way, shrugging off her white coat to reveal a floor-length dress, before she shoved the other woman with two hands.

The stranger – who was standing on high-heels – fell backwards with force and hit the tiles where she lay unmoving.

While Walden was standing over the woman and shouting at her, Walden’s 26-year-old daughter Kayla Pryor was running to back her mother up.

Kayla Patricia Pryor has plead guilty to common assault after kicking and punching a woman at The Ville.

The CCTV footage shows the moment Pryor reached the woman and her mother, immediately kicking the stranger in the head, sending the woman’s body rolling across the tiles.

Pryor then continued to assault the woman, weaving around witnesses trying to separate them to repeatedly punch the stranger several times.
By this point Walden had removed herself from the fight, and started “remonstrating with her husband” asking if he’d done anything to lead her on, the court heard.

All three women were intoxicated at the time and had foggy relocations of the assault.

The court heard both Walden and Pryor felt a sense of “deep shame” when they were finally able to watch the CCTV footage and see their own actions.

Pryor also admitted that she had completely misunderstood the situation.

Both women pleaded guilty to one count of common assault each.

The stranger they assaulted did not attempt to fight back, and only received a minor injury in the form of a “small lump” on the front of her head.

The court heard the stranger had approached the husband earlier in the night, asking him to confront a man she accused of spiking her drink.

The incident happened on July 23, 2023.

Magistrate Vivianna Keegan gave Natalie Walden a $750 fine and no conviction for the two-handed push.

Pryor received a harsher sentence, reflecting the fact she kicked the prone woman, punched her several times and has a criminal record, which includes a public nuisance charge at The Ville from a separate occasion.

Ms Keegan described Pryor’s actions as “persistence violence”.

“A kick, even though it didn’t result in any injury, is always a very serious thing,” Ms Keegan said.

“You had no reason to intervene … it must’ve been a long night with a lot of alcohol involved.”

Ms Keegan did acknowledge that Pryor was “thought of well” within the Home Hill community and that the assault was out of character for Walden, who works on a farm with her husband.

Kayla Pryor was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended immediately for 18 months, which means she will not have to serve time behind bars.

Originally published as ‘Persistent violence’: Natalie Walden, Kayla Pryor involved in drunken attack after wedding