Cousin viciously attacked

A woman had her lip split in half by her knife-wielding cousin in an anger fuelled attack.

On Thursday the District Court heard that the victim faced the possibility of permanent disfigurement, plus difficulty with breathing and eating, if she had not undergone reconstructive surgery.

Ivy Lillian Grannigan, 37, pleaded guilty to charges of assault and grievous bodily harm and had already spent 532 days in pre-sentence custody.

The court heard that Grannigan had been told by another relative that her boyfriend had spent the night with one of her cousins on November 2, 2021.

Crown Prosecutor Thomasina Papadimitriou said Grannigan went to her cousin’s Townsville unit complex at 3pm on November 3, 2021, together with a 17-year-old accomplice.

“She knocked on the wrong door but her cousin heard the door and opened her front door which was next door,” she said.

The court heard that Grannigan walked up to her cousin and said: “What, was you with my man?”

She then ‘king hit’ her cousin in the jaw and the cousin pushed her backwards into a mattress and held on to her, the court was told.

Grannigan told the accomplice to ‘punch the c-ksucker now’ and the 17-yearold complied, then the victim let go of Grannigan, who also began to strike her in the temple. Ms Papadimitriou said Grannigan also struck her cousin with a metal lamp and told the accomplice to ‘grab the knife there, I’m going to stab this c--ksucker’.

She said more punches and another blow from the metal lamp followed, then Grannigan slashed her cousin in the face with the knife, which ripped her lip in half and displaced two teeth.

“She left the victim lying bleeding on the mattress, stole her mobile phone, then she and her young accomplice left the unit,” she said.

Police arrested Grannigan on November 4, recovered the stolen phone, and she has remained in custody since that day. Ms Papadimitriou said Grannigan faced further serious assault charges arising from an incident at the Detention Centre on September 18 last year.

“The authorities decided to move Grannigan to another unit because she was encouraging other prisoners to hassle another prisoner,” she said.

“She refused to leave her cell and hurled abuse at the corrective service officers.”

A Code Yellow was declared with prisoners returned to their cells and a security grid closed, the court was told.

Grannigan took a bottle of liquid and threw the contents through the grille, hitting an officer on the chest and face.

“She then threw an orange through the grille, which splattered over the officer, before spitting in his face,” Ms Papadimitriou said.

Defence barrister Ted Bassett told the court that Grannigan had endured a very sad childhood and life thus far.

“She is the eldest of eight children and her parents were both hopeless alcoholics with mental health issues,” he said.

“She lived with her grandparents, helped raise her younger brothers and sisters, then left school at the age of 15.

“She had one job briefly, but otherwise has been unemployed and largely living on the streets for more than 20 years.”

As Mr Bassatt spoke to the court, Grannigan cried and bowed her head in the dock.

“Maybe this breakthrough of her talking about (her trauma) will help change her life and she will consider getting some psychiatric assistance whilst in jail,” he said.

Judge John Coker thanked Mr Bassett for his insightful comments but described the crimes as very serious.

“You have seventeen pages of criminal history and your behaviour towards your cousin and the corrective service officers was absolutely disgraceful.

“In the victim’s impact statement she said the attack had changed her life and she had flashbacks, dizziness, bouts of throbbing pain and restless sleep,” he said.

Judge Coker sentenced Grannigan to five years and six months’ imprisonment for the attack on her cousin and the prison officer.