Former UNE vice chancellor Brigid Heywood's assault hearing begins in Armidale court

The former vice chancellor of UNE resigned from the university in August, 2022, after she was charged with assaulting the schoolgirl at an International Women's Day event in Armidale.

Heywood, who has pleaded not guilty, appeared in Armidale Local Court on Tuesday, July 4, for the start of her hearing, charged with common assault and behaving in an offensive manner.

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The charges stemmed from an incident following the function - where Heywood was a guest speaker - at Armidale Servies Club in March, 2022.

Heywood is accused of licking her index finger and wiping it on the girl's face twice, after the girl made a comment about her own race to another of the speakers.

Heywood is also accused of making a comment to the girl about her skin colour.

Detective Senior Constable Heath Aiken, the officer-in-charge of the case, was the first witness called when the hearing began.

During questioning, he said police referred the matter to detectives, after general duties officers had initially handled the investigation, because of media interest in the case.

The court heard police had received a letter, before Heywood was charged, from state Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall.

The defence barrister, acting for Heywood, Jack Pappas, asked Detective Aiken if he had been told when he took over the case that Mr Marshall had written to police.

Detective Aitken said he wasn't told at the time, but said he subsequently became aware there had been a letter from Mr Marshall, but said he did not know the local MP had urged police to take action.

Detective Aiken was the first of two police officers to give evidence on the first day of the hearing.

Senior Constable Christopher Jordan, who conducted the initial investigation before it was handed to detectives, was asked about his attempt to gain footage from the function room at Armidale Servies.

But he described the available footage as "disgusting", saying it was from a fisheye camera with poor lighting.

The minor who is the complainant of the alleged assault appeared by video link in court to give evidence, after the hearing started.

She said she had approached Dr Brooke Kennedy, who had been one of the guest speakers at the International Women's Day event, along with Heywood, where her speech had discussed racism.

She said she started to talk to Dr Kennedy, saying "as a brown person myself..." before she was interrupted by Heywood.

"She said overly 'I didn't realise you were brown', then licked her index finger and wiped my cheek twice," the witness said.

She was asked how the comment made her feel.

"It made me feel disgusted. I was in a state of shock and humiliated," she told the court.

"I felt degraded and belittled."

The schoolgirl said she stood there, before walking away to find two friends who were at the function with her.

She then went to the public toilets where she scrubbed her cheek and said it affected her in the months after the incident.

"It was harder to attend school," the girl told the court.

"I fell into a really bad depression, I wasn't eating properly, I was emotionally distressed."

Heywood resigned as vice chancellor in August, 2022, after she was charged.

The hearing continues before Magistrate Mark Richardson.

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