Sarah James convicted in Bathurst Local Court after assaulting teenager

Sarah James, of Lyons Road, Lyndhurst, was convicted in Bathurst Local Court on February 15 after she pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

According to court documents, James, the 18-year-old victim in the matter and a witness were at a home in Lyndhurst when an argument broke out at about 10.30am on November 28 last year, which caused James to become agitated and led to her slamming a bedroom door.

The witness confronted James, who leaned past him and grabbed the victim on her chest, which ripped her shirt and resulted in a scratch on her neck. The victim then stumbled backwards and fell into the wall, according to the police documents.

James continued to yell at the victim and told her to leave, which she did.

That evening, James got a message from the victim's mother who said she was going to phone the police about the incident.

In an attempt to "get her side of the story on the record", James called police immediately after their call ended, according to the police documents.

Police said they went to James' house about 9pm that night and spoke with her about the assault, where she admitted to grabbing the victim and said she did it because she was angry.

During sentencing, James' Legal Aid solicitor, Keith Kuan, told the court his client was under a degree of stress due to the passing of a relative soon before the incident took place.

Magistrate C Farnan reminded James that her "record doesn't get better as time goes on" before she was placed on a community correction order for one year.

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