A woman with over 100 criminal convictions was witnessed waving a knife around and threatening members of the public, a court has heard.
Emma Jane Mooney, 54, appeared in the Dunedin District Court today before Judge Michael Turner, where she was convicted of possessing a knife and behaving threateningly.
Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond, of Dunedin, said police were called to Maclaggan St at 6pm yesterday following a report of someone waving a knife at members of the public.
At 5.40pm, Mooney saw a woman walking along the footpath and took a knife out of her pocket.
She yelled “You f...ing b...” and walked towards the victim.
Police were called and the defendant was arrested at a nearby address.
Mooney suffers from poor mental health but had been voluntarily engaging with mental health services, the court heard.
She initially denied the allegations, telling police “she was holding a cat and had offered an unknown male some food while she was on the street”.
Her story later changed and she admitted to carrying the knife outside “without thinking”.
Mooney, who has over 100 convictions, received a deferred sentence of 12 months.
“I promise I won’t hurt anyone...I swear on the bible,” she told the judge.
“I take her words with a large pinch of salt,” Judge Michael Turner said.
