A WOMAN who attacked an elderly lady on a central Mandurah street in a dispute over dogs was granted a spent conviction in court on Friday.
Emma Amelia Taylor-Rennie appeared in Mandurah Magistrates Court and pleaded guilty to assaulting the woman, aged in her 60s outside her George Street home.
The court heard Ms Taylor-Rennie disputed the prosecution’s version of events where Ms Taylor-Rennie and an unknown male were walking a dog on George Street.
The elderly victim picked up her dog at the front of her property and was verbally abused by the male before Ms Taylor-Rennie pushed the woman in the chest, causing her to fall to the ground.
Counsel for Ms Taylor-Rennie argued her client’s dog, a K9 rescue animal, was being “nipped” by the victim’s small dog when the man yelled and caused a scene.
Ms Taylor-Rennie admitted she “momentarily lost control” and pushed the woman but argued the 66-year-old victim was mimicking her friend.
Ms Taylor-Rennie also pleaded guilty to trespassing on a home on Peel Street over the Christmas holiday period late last year and early this year.
The fully furnished home was vacant when Ms Taylor-Rennie entered the property, but the owner later found letters addressed to the accused inside his home when he came to stay for a holiday.
Described as a “matter of desperation” given Ms Taylor-Rennie was going to sleep on the beach before she heard about the vacant furnished home, Magistrate Vivien Edwards handed the accused a $200 conditional release order, meaning Ms Rennie-Taylor will only pay the $200 if she commits another crime over the next six months.
For the assault, the 31-year-old was fined $500 and ordered to pay court costs.
A spent conviction was granted given counsel argued Ms Taylor-Rennie had ambitions to work in the hospitality industry.
