A WODONGA woman accused of an attempted robbery while armed with a knife was allegedly spurred on by jealousy directed at the victim.
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This scenario was outlined in Crown prosecutor Tom Lynch’s opening address to a County Court jury in Wodonga yesterday.
Gemma Narelle Milham pleaded not guilty to an amended charge of attempted armed robbery, but guilty to assault.
Milham was to have been tried on a charge of armed robbery relating to a mobile phone, pension card and $10.
The charge was altered to an accusation Milham was armed with a knife as she tried to steal a purse from the victim’s handbag.
Milham’s defence will be that while she went to the victim’s address in West Wodonga and there was a dispute, there wasn’t a knife.
Mr Lynch said the prosecution’s case was the victim first met the accused in about November 2012.
Mr Lynch said Milham was in a defacto relationship — she and her partner had three children — though the victim stated she had never met the man until the day of the alleged offences.
On the morning of December 7, 2012, the victim came across Milham and her partner as she walked down a laneway in central Wodonga.
Milham asked the victim if she and her defacto knew each other and were in fact meeting up.
The victim got about 50 metres away from the pair when she heard Milham shout at her: “Are you going to tell me what’s going on or do I have to come and punch your head in?”
The victim returned to her home in Horsfall Court.
A car pulled up near her house, with Milham in the front passenger seat and her partner driving.
He wound down his window and asked the victim to tell Milham that they did not know each other.
“The complainant was scared and looked up the street to see if anyone else was around,” Mr Lynch said.
The victim told Milham that she had never seen the man before, then turned to walk to her front door.
Milham allegedly responded: “I’m going to stab ya.”
Mr Lynch said it was then that Milham had produced a knife from the left side of her bra, before grabbing the victim and pushing her against a wall.
He said Milham reached into the victim’s handbag and took out the $10 note, pension card and mobile phone before shouting: “I’m going to f---ing take your purse.”
He said the court would then hear evidence that Milham held the cash, card and phone out of the victim’s reach.
As the pair struggled, the three items fell out of Milham’s grasp to be retrieved by the victim.
The trial before Judge Roy Punshon continues today.