PARTNERS in life and alleged crime, the woman accused of repeatedly kicking a man in the head for four minutes with her fiancee has been banned from speaking to him while on bail.
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Sharon Maree Mills faced a fresh charge of aggravated break-and-enter and committing a serious indictable offence by inflicting actual bodily harm in Tamworth Local Court on Wednesday.
It's alleged the assault occurred while she was on bail charged with supplying a small quantity of prohibited drugs; participating in a criminal group that contributed to criminal activity; and a detention application for her arrest.
Mills is yet to enter a plea to any of the charges, and on Wednesday, defence solicitor Geoff Archer argued his client should be sent to Banksia for a mental health assessment.
"I just felt she was unwell and should be taken to the hospital," he said.
"She instructs me that she has some severe PTSD issues ... her mum died in 2006.
"As I mentioned earlier this morning she's not in a very good place, she's very teary and very stressed out."
Magistrate Julie Soars denied the application on the basis she could send Mills to Banksia because of her strictly indictable charge.
Mr Archer then tried to have Mills released on bail because no victim was named in the police facts, which he argued was a weakness in the prosecution's case.
"I'm not being facetious but the facts don't name anyone so Your Honour is being asked to guess," he said.
He also argued the allegation was just the victim's word against Mills'.
"If Your Honour doesn't accept there is no victim named in the fact sheet, there would appear to be no other witnesses," he said.
"In relation to the charge it's a situation where any jury would be given a warning in a one-on-one situation that, while it appears to be circumstantial, if some scratches would satisfy the jury that this is one person who's repeatedly been kicked in the head for four minutes."
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In the Gunnedah drug matters, there are about 2000 pages worth of telephone intercept transcripts to go through, the court heard.
Ms Soars granted bail on the condition Mills would not stay in her home, that she shares with co-accused fiance Alan Anthony Edmunds. Mills was ordered to be of good behaviour, report to police twice a week and to make a doctor's appointment.
She is banned from speaking to Edmunds or any prosecution witnesses and cannot go within 250m of her home. Mills must also comply with an Apprehended Violence Order that protects the alleged victim of the assault.
The matter returns to court in September.
Madeline Link
Madeline Link is a journalist at the Newcastle Herald, with a focus on Lake Macquarie City Council. To keep up with my stories, follow my Twitter @madeline_link, for tips email madeline.link@newcastleherald.com.au.
Madeline Link is a journalist at the Newcastle Herald, with a focus on Lake Macquarie City Council. To keep up with my stories, follow my Twitter @madeline_link, for tips email madeline.link@newcastleherald.com.au.
