North Albury offender thanks magistrate on getting corrections order for assault

Magistrate Leslie Mabbutt told Tanya Lorraine Kellett that ordinarily full-time jail would have been the starting point in such a case.

But he granted her some leniency on hearing and reading submissions from defence lawyer Tim Hemsley.

Mr Hemsley revealed how his client had been made an involuntary patient of Albury hospital's Nolan House mental health facility on the night following her assault of another shopper at Lavington Square.

Kellett previously pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm over the shopping centre incident on May 15.

The victim, who Kellett, 32, had known for many years, was unloading the contents of her shopping trolley into her car. Kellett approached the woman and punched her to the face.

Mr Hemsley told Kellett's sentencing hearing in Albury Local Court on Wednesday, October 4, that while Kellett was in the unit for just one night, this had set her on the course of stabilising her mental health with appropriate medication.

"She went to see her GP, who referred her to the hospital," he said.

"They then admitted her as an involuntary patient."

Mr Hemsley said Kellett was continuing to see the Albury Brain and Mind Centre and was booked in for further mental health appointments.

Mr Mabbutt convicted Kellett and placed her on a supervised two-year community corrections order, a sentence that came with a final warning.

"Come back here in that two-year period and there's only one result," he said, pointing to the likelihood Kellett would end up in a jail cell.

MORE COURT STORIES

Earlier, Mr Mabbutt told Kellett she had a "shocking" and "appalling" record for violence.

"And people should be able to go about their business at a public shopping centre without being assaulted," he said.

Kellett had only just completed a nine-month intensive corrections order for attacking a teenage girl, 19, with a metal bar when she committed the shopping centre assault.

"It appears," police previously told the court, "that the victim and the accused have exchanged words about the accused's brother (who was) somewhere in the complex."

The victim was treated at Albury hospital for bleeding from her mouth.

Kellett, who thanked Mr Mabbutt on being sentenced, was fined $1500.

She also faces a hearing on November 2 after pleading not guilty to three charges of stalking or intimidation and one of contravention of an apprehended violence order.

To read more stories, download The Border Mail news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: