Jail term over racquet blow

Public nuisance ‘stupid and drunk’

A TOWNSVILLE woman struck a man walking out of a public toilet with a tennis racquet before spitting on police as they tried to arrest her.

Fabrianne Tahler Morgan, 24, pleaded guilty to nine charges in Townsville Magistrates’ Court last Monday after she was taken into custody in February.

She was charged with committing public nuisance, assaulting police by spitting, obstructing police, possessing a knife in a public place and contravening a police banning notice.

Police prosecutor Jordan Theed said a man was walking out of a public toilet block when Morgan assaulted him with a tennis racquet.

The court heard Morgan and the victim were unknown to each other and bystanders disarmed Morgan and threw the racquet on a roof so she could not reach it.

When police were called to the altercation on Flinders Street, Morgan approached them and began swearing and yelling abuse.

Mr Theed said three days later at the same location, Morgan was again seen yelling and screaming at innocent people on the street, including families with children.

When police tried to question her, she began walking towards Woolworths, continuing to yell and said “stop following me, you f--king dogs”.

Mr Theed said parents with children had to get out of Morgan’s way and kids were “visibly scared”.

The court was told Morgan yelled “racist comments” at police while walking through traffic, narrowly missing cars.

In a separate incident, police were called after Morgan was standing in the middle of a roadway outside Riverway Plaza yelling abuse at traffic.

One witness told police she had to “navigate off the road” to avoid Morgan, who lashed out and struck the witness’s car’s tail light with her hand, Mr Theed said.

Morgan’s offending climaxed on February 20 when police were called to the Queensland Country Bank Stadium while an Indigenous All Stars game was under way.

Mr Theed said Morgan was observed screaming from the upper levels of the grandstand yelling “suck my d--k”.

Morgan was ejected from the stadium by security before she started banging on the emergency doors from outside.

When police located her and were trying to arrest her, Morgan spat in the face of a female constable. A knife was also found in Morgan’s bag.

In court, Morgan’s solicitor Kevin Amantea said his client had been “stupid and drunk”.

Magistrate Scott Luxton sentenced Morgan to 15 months in jail. She will be eligible for parole on July 19. Convictions were recorded.