BAD GIRL FOR LOVE
CAR THEFT, CHOKE OVER A BLOKE
A NEWTOWN mother who choked another woman before stealing her car was partly motivated by the victim’s fling with her partner.
Nicole Stratton was with three others when she launched the vicious attack on the 22-year-old victim shortly after 1am on July 14.
The Geelong Magistrates’ Court yesterday heard the group approached the woman in a carpark at the Lord of the Isles Tavern and requested a lift to an address in Whittington.
But shortly before reaching the destination, the victim was told to pull over the car before Stratton started choking her from the back seat.
A NEWTOWN mother who choked another woman before stealing her car was partly motivated by the victim’s fling with her partner.
Nicole Stratton was with three others when she launched the vicious attack on the 22-year-old victim shortly after 1am on July 14.
The Geelong Magistrates’ Court yesterday heard the group approached the woman in a carpark at the Lord of the Isles Tavern and requested a lift to an address in Whittington.
But shortly before reaching the destination, the victim was told to pull over the car before Stratton started choking her from the back seat.
The woman fled the car and Stratton — a mother of two young children — jumped in the driver’s seat, performed a burnout and drove off.
The car was later found dumped 160m from her Russell St home and scrawled with graffiti tags.
Stratton was initially charged with carjacking, but yesterday pleaded guilty to downgraded charges of car theft and assault.
The 25-year-old also pleaded guilty to a series of unrelat- ed driving matters, along with weapon offences after police found .22-calibre ammunition at her home.
Defence lawyer Caetlyn Wells-Simon said the female victim previously had a brief relationship with Stratton’s long-time partner, who has also been charged in connection with the car theft.
In pushing for a lenient sentence, Ms Wells-Simon said her client was a young woman who had hopes of becoming a veterinary surgeon.
She said Stratton had spent two nights in custody following the car theft and had remained drug-free since her release.
Magistrate Michael Coghlan said any previous relationship between the victim and Stratton’s partner was no justification for the assault.
“The incident was a nasty one and probably pretty distressing for the person involved,” he said.
Mr Coghlan ordered Stratton to complete 80 hours of unpaid community work as part of a six-month corrections order. He also fined her a combined $2250 for the driving and weapons offences.
Her co-accused remains in custody in relation to the car theft. The 27-year-old will return to court next month.