October 10, 2008

Community work for woman who 'went nuts' at the Mad Cow

Makayla Jane Guiney must do 100 hours of community work and pay her victims $450 for a night when she admits she ?went nuts? at the Mad Cow bar.

Defence counsel Chris Persson described the 21-year-old?s offending as a surprise and a complete aberration.

She has no previous convictions at all, but on a night when she saw her 52-year-old father being ?badly handled? at the bar she lashed out and assaulted three bouncers.

At a judge-alone trial before Judge John Bisphan she was found guilty of assaulting two of them, and also convicted of striking a third with a bottle as a weapon.

She continues to deny the bottling but accepts the judge?s verdict. ?Perhaps the bottle was just still in her hand, in the heat of the moment,? said Mr Persson.

He said she was a mother of a four-year-old daughter, and was receiving the domestic purposes benefit while she did a hairdressing course. The convictions would impact on her eventual job prospects.

Judge Bisphan said a fine was not appropriate. The offending was too serious and her income was too slight.

He noted one of her victims had a black eye and bruising, and the other may have had delayed concussion.

He said Guiney?s description of ?going nuts? on the night was a good description of what happened.

?This is not just minor. It is another example of the sort of violence that goes on in situations where there?s alcohol and it has to be met with something more than a fine.?

He sentenced her to 100 hours of community work, and ordered that she pay $250 and $200 to two of the bouncers she injured, as emotional harm reparations.