Break-in teen defecated on toilet lid, wiped bum on victim's towel

Tabitha Janine Shaw, 17, plead guilty to the charge of committing an indecent act with intent to offend, but her lawyer indicated she would seek a discharge without conviction. Photo / File

A 17-year-old defecated on a toilet lid in a property then sought out towels belonging to the victim, a recent former tenant of the property, and used them to wipe herself.

The case of Tabitha Janine Shaw, of Cromwell, came before Judge Michael Turner in the Alexandra District Court this morning.

Shaw was charged with committing an indecent act with intent to offend, in Cromwell on April 6.

She was also jointly charged with Kaylum John Halliwell, also 17 and of Cromwell, of entering a building without authority and with intent to commit an imprisonable offence in that building.

The pair had gained access through a broken window to the property, from which the victim had recently been evicted by Halliwell's family because of damage he had caused the property.

The victim had re-varnished and painted the property, but Shaw and Halliwell scraped the fresh paint in four bedrooms, the hall and the kitchen, police prosecutor Sergeant Grant Gerken said.

Shaw then defecated on the toilet lid and used towels belonging to the victim to wipe herself.

The pair also ripped the pages from a bible belonging to the victim.

Counsel for Shaw, Kieran Tohill, who was also acting on behalf of Halliwell's counsel, entered guilty pleas for the pair but said through counsel they would both apply for a discharge without conviction.

They were remanded until November 19.