Carol Harrington sentenced after recklessly causing serious injury to neighbour

A Thomson woman who bashed her neighbour unconscious with a bat in an unprovoked attack and left her in a “pool of blood”, told another neighbour the victim had “fallen over or something”, a court has heard.

Police at the scene of the attack in Thomson Picture: Alison Wynd

A woman who bashed her neighbour unconscious with a bat and left her in a pool of blood has been given a merciful sentence as she was on the verge of losing her house.

Carol Harrington, 58, also known as Carol Marsden or Carol Swaney, appeared in the County Court at Geelong on Wednesday for a plea hearing.

She pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a single count of recklessly causing serious injury on the eve of a trial.

Judge Geoff Chettle convicted Harrington and sentenced her to 381-days jail, reckoned as time served, and a two-year community corrections order (CCO).

The court heard Harrington was living in a Thomson unit complex when she went to a neighbour’s flat on the afternoon of March 10 last year.

Her neighbour, a 68-year-old woman, answered the door - Harrington hit her on the head with a bat.

Police and forensics at the unit complex. Picture: Alison Wynd

Crown prosecutor Raphael de Vietri said Harrington continued her attack on the woman as both parties moved inside, striking her with the bat in the face, head and arms and ripping the victim’s top and a “handful of hair” from her head during the altercation.

Mr de Vietri described the attack as “fairly ferocious … one may even say fairly merciless”.

She left her victim unconscious and in a “pool of blood” on the floor, before raising the alarm with another neighbour and telling her: “(the victim) needs help, she’s fallen over or something”.

When she was found, the victim was unconscious and non-responsive, her hands clawed shut around clumps of Harrington’s hair, the court heard.

The victim suffered “substantial” and life-threatening injuries and spent 26 days in hospital.

Harrington admitted to having consumed GHB and was drug-affected during the attack, being later deemed unfit for interview due to being erratic, agitated and not making sense.

The court heard the motive behind the attack was unclear but it was seemingly totally unprovoked; the two women had been “swapping cigarettes” for years and even had keys to each other’s flats at one time.

There was no formal victim impact statement as the victim died on Tuesday, however the court heard she was significantly impacted by the attack.

Police forensics at the scene, Picture: Alison Wynd

Harrington’s lawyer, barrister Alan Hands, asked for a combination sentence of jail followed by a CCO, a proposition the prosecution accepted was within range.

Mr Hands told the court his client had a longstanding drug and mental health issues.

The mother-of-five had endured a “fairly tough life”, the court heard, her upbringing “marred by trauma and violence”.

After leaving home at 14, she suffered bouts of homelessness.

She had spent 13 years waiting for a commission house, and was on the verge of losing it due to being in custody, Mr Hands said.

It was this factor that ultimately persuaded Judge Chettle to exercise a degree of “mercy”.

Judge Chettle said a longer term of imprisonment would result in further “homelessness and disruption”, as the house had, aside from this “spectacular offending”, provided stability for Harrington.

It was “in the interest of the community that (she) keep that housing and keep that stability”, Judge Chettle said.

However, Judge Chettle noted that Harrington’s prospects of rehabilitation were directly tied to whether or not she remained drug free, warning her to “stay off the juice”.

Originally published as Carol Harrington sentenced after recklessly causing serious injury to neighbour