Gai Waterhouse stablehand punched colleague in "rage of jealousy"
A Sydney magistrate has launched a blistering attack on alcohol-fuelled violence by women, telling one Eastern Suburbs woman that "it's about time sentences are imposed to females that are imposed on males for the same thing”.
Magistrate Michael Barko on Wednesday handed British national Elizabeth Hasler 250 hours of community service for attacking her Gai Waterhouse colleague in what he called a "drunken rage of jealousy."
According to the agreed police facts, Ms Hasler and her co-workers were having drinks at the Doncaster Hotel in Kensington on March 3 after a race meet at Royal Randwick racecourse.
Ms Hasler and the victim left together just before midnight, when the stablehand shouted "What the f--- are you looking at?” at the victim on the footpath outside the pub. She claimed the victim had been looking at Ms Hasler's fiancee throughout the night.
Ms Hasler told her "best for you to walk away or I'll knock you out," and punched the victim twice in the face with a clenched fist.
The victim was left with a broken nose, severe bleeding, a fractured left cheek, ligament damage to the neck and a chipped front tooth requiring dental work.
Ms Hasler attended Mascot Police Station a month later, where she was charged with one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The 27-year-old Brit from Kent attended Waverley Local Court on Wednesday, where she entered a plea of guilty to the charge.
The court heard she had been in Australia since 2011 and had been constantly employed.
She is engaged to be married and shares a Randwick apartment with her fiancee who was in court to support her.
Ms Hasler was fully cooperative with police and showed genuine remorse, the court heard.
"She fully understands what she did was wrong," her solicitor said.
Ms Hasler and the victim have been socially in company together since the attack, he said, and there has been "no prior or future" hostility between the pair of stablehands.
"Alcohol played a role" in the unprovoked attack, he added.
Magistrate Barko said that he had witnessed a rise in alcohol-fuelled violence involving women.
“If I showed these facts to the general community and said it's a male [perpetrator], they would say he should go to jail," he said.
"It's about time sentences are imposed to females that are imposed to males for the same thing.
“Why can't people go out at night, have a good time and go to bed? I’m sick of violence," he said, sentencing her to 250 hours of community service.
Ms Hasler has also been given a six-month disqualification by Racing NSW over the incident, which is currently under appeal.