An axe-wielding woman was stopped at gunpoint by police after smashing up her former partner's car and then threatening police. Stock Photo / 123RF
An axe-wielding woman was stopped at gunpoint by police after smashing up her former partner's car and then threatening police. Stock Photo / 123RF
A woman who went on a rampage with a tomahawk when her former partner arrived home later than planned was eventually stopped by police at gunpoint.
Shanae Ashleigh Brown was today remanded in custody until July to consider sentencing options for events which the court heard were triggered by her former partner arriving home later than planned from work, having had a beer with friends afterwards.
Name suppression lapsed today for the 28-year-old, who has been in custody since early April, despite recent efforts to have her released on bail. The court heard that the evident lack of support from family and friends meant there was no suitable address for her.
Brown and her former partner have two children together. On April 3 she was at her former partner's address with their children. An argument began over his late arrival home, when Brown pushed him over, grabbed a tomahawk and told him, "I'm going to smash up your car and carry on until I get locked up".
A police car was damaged by a woman wielding a tomahawk on a busy Nelson highway, who then ran off before being stopped at gunpoint. Photo / Tracy Neal
Brown then walked up to his car, which was parked beside a busy state highway in Nelson, and smashed out the windows with the small axe. She then walked down the road towards the city, swinging the tomahawk, which alarmed members of the public who called the police.
Brown then walked up to a Spark-owned telephone box outside a dairy on Haven Rd and smashed it with the tomahawk, swearing and screaming as she swung the weapon.
Police who headed to the scene were confronted by her standing in the middle of the road, holding the tomahawk in a way she was likely to use it on the police. Brown then swung the weapon at the police car, and damaged it before running off, still yelling and swinging the axe.
Another police unit arrived, and Brown was challenged at gunpoint to drop the tomahawk.
She threw it in some nearby bushes and dropped to the ground before she was arrested and taken to the police station.
The police summary said she had not provided an explanation for her actions and continued to "verbally abuse" anyone who tried to engage with her.
Brown admitted charges in the Nelson District Court today of common assault, possession of an offensive weapon, disorderly behaviour and wilful damage.
Her lawyer Dave Holloway said she had not met the threshold of a Section 38 mental health report, when it was clear it was "very much a mental health event".
He said Brown had held down a job with the same employer for seven years, her relationship had ended and the events on April 3 were the climax of a lot of things which had happened all at once.
Holloway said Brown had hoped to be released from custody but she had no support, she did not have a relationship with her family, but there was an acknowledgement that the victim in this instance also needed to be protected.
Holloway added that Covid had placed additional burdens on the mental health sector, which had resulted in a lack of social workers available to assist Brown.
Judge Richard Russell said Brown's actions were serious, whichever way anyone looked at them.
"It was lucky no one was injured or killed – she was out of control with a tomahawk," said Judge Russell who added that to discharge her now would mean she would be released without a plan.
He remanded her until July to consider a discharge with conviction, but all sentencing options were on the table, including a referral to Restorative Justice.
