Jennifer May Scott, 35, appeared in the Dunedin District Court this week after pleading guilty to intentional damage following the March 9 incident, which was captured by a passing motorist and shared widely on social media.
"Your eyebrows and body language indicate you’re quite bemused by this and do not take it seriously. You seem to think can do what you like," he said. "You cannot."
It was not the first time Scott had courted controversy.
The ex-nurse was vocal about her anti-vaccination stance in the midst of the global Covid-19 crisis and she made a splash again last year when addressing the Dunedin City Council around her objection to transgender women using female changing facilities at Moana Pool.
Then-mayor Aaron Hawkins called her comments "at very least distasteful, if not repugnant".
In September last year the Nursing Council of New Zealand confirmed Scott’s practising certificate had been suspended and a search of the online register does not show her name.
The court heard this week Scott was now studying to be a naturopath.
Scott had been in a high-school relationship with the victim and they had resumed contact five years ago.
The victim told the Otago Daily Times things were not serious.
"Casual catch-ups I guess you’d say."
They parted on bad terms but the man said he expected they would move on with their lives without issue.
The victim said she turned up at his workplace, ranting, more than a year before the graffiti incident so when he was informed his truck had been defaced he knew the identity of the culprit immediately.
On March 9, Scott confronted a woman at The Warehouse whom she suspected was the man’s new partner.
She immediately drove to Bunnings and bought a can of white spray paint, then travelled to the victim’s Ward St business.
Scott aimed her outrage at the man’s vehicle, spray painting offensive words on it.
When spoken to by police, she explained she had done it because "she didn’t like the way he had treated her".
The victim was surprised Scott would stoop so low.
"She went above and beyond where I thought she ever could," he said.
Counsel Rhona Daysh said her client apologised "unreservedly" for her actions and wanted to assure the man there would be no repeat.
She said Scott had strong opinions and was "sometimes her own worst enemy".
Ms Daysh argued for a suspended sentence but Judge Large opted against that because of the defendant’s dismissive attitude.
She was sentenced to 40 hours’ community work and ordered to pay the victim $350 for the damage to his paintwork.
