The young women had been drinking at a birthday weekend retreat in Hanmer Springs. Photo / Getty Images
A woman pulled her sleeping friend out of bed and bit her above the eye because she believed she had flirted with her boyfriend earlier in the evening.
Hairdresser Natasha Birchfield attacked her friend of about seven years in circumstances that likely never would have happened had she been sober, Judge Tony Snell said in the Nelson District Court today.
“This was an unprovoked attack on a sleeping person.”
The 21-year-old, with no previous criminal history, had sought a discharge without conviction on a charge she admitted earlier of injuring with intent to injure. The assault had occurred during a birthday weekend away in the North Canterbury spa town of Hanmer Springs.
Judge Snell declined the application, saying a conviction was warranted and not out of proportion to the gravity of the offending.
Birchfield’s lawyer Wayne Jones argued the offending was situational, a one-off event borne from emotional immaturity.
She had the rest of her life ahead and a conviction would have ongoing consequences, he said.
Police opposed the application.
The victim had gone to Hanmer Springs with Birchfield to celebrate her birthday.
Both had been drinking until the victim went to bed and Birchfield went out but returned intoxicated just after midnight, on the weekend of March 23.
She went into the victim’s room and pulled her out of bed by the hair before attacking her as she lay on the floor.
Birchfield bit the victim above the eye, which cut through her eyelid, and then bit her on the arm. The assault went on for about five minutes and left her friend with cuts, bruises and carpet burns, a police summary said.
The victim escaped but returned later to collect her belongings when she was assaulted again.
Birchfield’s partner managed to pull her away.
Birchfield told police she had become annoyed with her friend, whom she believed had flirted with her boyfriend.
Judge Snell said aggravating features included that the victim, being asleep at the time, was highly vulnerable, the attack was continued when the victim returned, and it had involved an attack on the victim’s head.
He said there was no doubt psychological harm would have resulted.
Judge Snell said there was an element of premeditation in that Birchfield “went out and got boozed up”, and stewed over what allegedly occurred earlier.
He agreed with the defence counsel that the attack was borne out of drunkenness but then Birchfield had taken out her feelings on the victim.
Judge Snell said Birchfield’s initial not-guilty plea had done her “little credit”, as well as her not accepting significant parts of the summary of facts.
“You then pleaded guilty and that is to your credit. You have also expressed remorse and while you attempted restorative justice and reached out to the victim you were blocked.”
He noted Birchfield was well-regarded and had a good work ethic in her job, but the prolonged attack had involved serious violence against another person, was premeditated and caused injury.
He said Birchfield’s employer was said to be supportive, therefore a conviction would not jeopardise her employment, but any harm to future travel and employment elsewhere was speculative.
Judge Snell did not think a conviction would harm Birchfield’s goal of one day being self-employed and running her own salon.
“Everything points to the fact you are a good hairdresser.”
He said a conviction might be hard, but the consequences were not out of proportion to what happened, for which Birchfield had to be held accountable.
She was remanded for sentencing later this month.
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.
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