A woman convicted of killing a teenager when she drove her car into a crowd of partygoers has been recalled to prison, allegedly for trying to strangle a woman and push her in front of an oncoming car.
Julie Anne Johnson, 25 and unemployed, entered no plea to a charge of assault when she appeared in Whangarei District Court yesterday.
She was recalled to prison to serve the balance of her seven-year jail term for the manslaughter of 16-year-old Renee Brown, The Northern Advocate newspaper reported.
Miss Brown was killed when Johnson drove into a crowd of people at a party in Taylor Road, Kamo, in February 2003.
In May 2004, a jury in the High Court at Whangarei acquitted her of murder but found her guilty of manslaughter, and she was cleared of injuring 15 other people.
The newspaper reported Johnson was released from prison on March 4, before the statutory release date of February 23 next year, after appearing before the Parole Board for the seventh time.
She had been deemed to be at a low risk of offending.
Johnson was arrested on Monday. Senior Sergeant Richard Leach said she had argued with a 21-year-old woman over a cellphone.
It was alleged Johnson pushed the woman into a doorway, grabbed her around the throat and then pushed her in front of an oncoming car.
Judge John MacDonald said Johnson would reappear in court on August 11.
