A Dunedin woman terrorised her child’s school teacher and subjected her own sister to a 10-minute beating, a court has heard.
The woman, aged in her 30s, appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday, where she was sentenced to 18 months’ intensive supervision and 400 hours’ community work over two incidents last year that took place four months apart.
The defendant blamed her crimes on her "manic" state — the result of her daughter being removed from her care.
On August 3, she contacted her uncle online to vent about her mother.
"I’ll have to burn their houses down and I’ll get [my daughter], get a plane and do a runner," the defendant wrote.
"If I don’t get to see my daughter soon I’m going to jail happily for the murder of my life-long abuser."
The next day the woman was walking past her daughter’s primary school when she saw the child’s former teacher.
"I’ll kill you — your time is coming," the defendant yelled.
She came close to the victim and was undeterred when she called police.
"I know your car, your licence plate, I know where you park and I’m manic. I’ll kill you, bitch," she said.
Judge Kevin Phillips said the woman was so traumatised she was never on school grounds alone and was escorted by other staff members while doing outdoor duties.
"She can’t go in at the weekend to do prep work because she’s so scared of you," the judge said.
Four months later, the defendant went to her sister’s home, where she entered through an open door and launched a brutal attack.
After an onslaught of punches and hair-pulling the victim tried to escape but was tracked down before she made it out of the house.
The court heard the defendant pushed her head into a concrete surface several times while continuing to kick, punch and spit on her.
According to court documents, the attack lasted 10 minutes.
It could "only be described as frightening and appalling", the judge said.
The defendant told her counsel, Jim Takas, that her moods led her down "a path of destruction".
Mr Takas, though, said things were looking brighter for his client.
Her mental health issues had previously been misdiagnosed and she was now on the correct medication and feeling increasingly stable.
However, Judge Phillips remained concerned the defendant continued to shift the blame for her behaviour on to her family.
Her mother described being "heartbroken" by the experience of recent years.
"She’s living in constant fear of her own child," the judge said.
All the victims’ identities were suppressed, making it impossible to name the defendant.
