East Albury woman put hand to throat of daughter, who suffered multiple scratches

The younger woman, 27, had blocked Catherine Handy's phone number, but her mother persisted.

The pair ultimately argued and, at one point, threw punches at each other, then Handy applied one hand to her daughter's throat.

That left multiple scratches on her victim, with that and her unwelcome arrival at the West Albury house resulting in police charges.

Handy, 48, has pleaded guilty in Albury Local Court to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and to remaining in a building with the intention of committing a common assault.

She will be sentenced on November 7, and had her bail continued by magistrate Sally McLaughlin.

The court was told, in agreed facts tendered by Director of Public Prosecutions representative Laura Tagliapietra, that Handy had a key to her daughter's home.

But in the weeks leading up to their confrontation on April 4, the daughter blocked Handy's telephone number.

About 8.50am that day, the victim received a notification that her mother had tried to call, without getting through.

Handy arrived at her daughter's home about 10 minutes later.

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Ms McLaughlin was told the victim unlocked the wooden front door, but not the screen door.

"If you have come here to argue," she told her mother, "I don't want to hear about it."

Handy insisted she had not turned up to argue, then asked her daughter to unlock and open the screen door.

"I just want to talk," she said.

"I have my key, just let me in."

Moments later, Handy asked why her phone number had been blocked.

After 10 minutes the daughter asked her to leave, then they began to argue and about 30 seconds later Handy pushed her over.

"The victim got up and the parties began throwing multiple punches at each other."

Handy pushed her again and the incident escalated.

"The offender then put her right hand on the victim's throat. The victim kicked the offender and grabbed her hair."

As this happened, Handy let go and they both fell to the floor.

Handy then got up and left, but told her daughter on the way out that she was "nothing but a user; you don't deserve to keep your child".

The daughter was taken by ambulance to Albury hospital. Police arrested Handy at her home about 1.15pm.

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