Mum gets off charge of assaulting teen

A mother who had to retrieve her drunk 14-year-old daughter from inner-city Wellington has got off a charge of assault after a judge ruled that she hit the girl in the face as self-defence.

The Wellington woman, whose name is suppressed to protect the identity of her daughter, had taken the girl’s cellphone off her as punishment, leading to an argument.

She told Wellington District Court judge Anthony Walsh yesterday that she had been at home on February 20 when she got a phone call from her son saying his sister was in town with friends and was drunk.

The woman had to walk 35 minutes into town to get her daughter as she was unable to drive because of a medical condition. Back at home, she demanded the cellphone from the girl to stop her contacting her friends.

‘‘She is using social media to get in touch with friends to organise these drinky-poos,’’ she said.

The argument resumed the next morning with the girl demanding her phone back. The mother said her son arrived, which inflamed the situation, and they ended up in the girl’s bedroom still arguing.

After telling told the girl she was not getting the phone back, she said her daughter made an offensive comment and lunged at her. The mother then hit her in the face with the back of her left hand.

She described the girl as having moved toward her aggressively. She was upset about the comment and worried she might get hit.

The daughter also gave evidence, admitting she had been out drinking and that she had not wanted to give a statement to police because she had not seen it as a big deal.

The judge said the impression he had from the evidence as a whole was that feelings were running red hot between the pair.

He said the mother had seen the girl’s actions as menacing,

‘‘I found the defendant was frank in her evidence and did not attempt to minimise her actions. When I weighed those factors, I was satisfied the defendant was acting in self-defence.’’

He dismissed the charge and told the mother that he hoped she could reunite with her daughter.

‘‘I know she may have been challenging with her behaviour in the past, I hope you can reconcile.’’