A young woman who threatened to kill her grandmother with a box-cutting knife has blamed her outburst on a childhood "flashback" of a cat being killed.
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The threat, Tayla Denae Walton said, came after her grandmother asked if she had done the same to her own missing cat.
Walton has told Albury Local Court magistrate Richard Funston she "never intended" the incident to happen.
Rather, it was "spur of the moment".
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Walton, 26, of Hamilton Valley, pleaded guilty to domestic violence-related charges of intimidation and assault.
She said much of the friction with her grandmother and other family members was because of issues they had with her partner.
Walton feared she was going to be jailed.
"I think you are right to be in fear of that," Mr Funston said.
"They're very serious charges."
The court was told Walton had not long moved to North Albury from Melbourne and the couple were staying at the victim's Tamarind Street home, with their 18-month-old son.
Police said the victim, who had cared for Walton since birth, returned home on February 10 just before 3pm, when Walton and her partner were in their bedroom.
The victim got a sheet off the clothes line and placed this on Walton's bed.
"I'm going to wrap your body in (the) sheet," Walton said.
The victim then asked about her missing cat.
Walton approached the victim, her foster mother, and pointed the blade at her from half a metre away, warning: "I'm going to kill you."
She said her grandmother's question reminded of her of an incident as a child when the victim threw a cat at a wall in front of her and her brother, killing the animal.
Walton was put on a 12-month community corrections order.