“She feels she is now constantly having to look over her shoulder,” Judge Rielly said.
Mikaere last month admitted the assault charge, which happened last October.
“She [the parking warden] was only doing her job and didn’t deserve to be treated like this,” Judge Richard Russell told Mikaere when she appeared in the Nelson District Court last month.
On the afternoon of October 4, the warden was walking along Pah St in Motueka near the Countdown supermarket when Mikaere saw and yelled out, “you f****** b****, you gave me a ticket”, then started to walk towards her.
The warden stopped at a pedestrian crossing before Mikaere followed her as she crossed the road.
Mikaere then grabbed the warden by the neck and pushed her to the ground, before Mikaere’s sister pulled her away and they left the area.
The warden ended up with a sore neck, similar to whiplash, she told the police.
Judge Russell convicted Mickaere and remanded her on bail for sentencing, to attend Restorative Justice, and to hear the victim’s views.
However, this did not proceed.
Judge Rielly said today that both offences, including that Mikaere had abused staff at the hotel where she’d broken the window, showed someone who was disrespectful towards others, and “probably someone with a significant alcohol problem”.
“Something is not right here, Ms Mikaere and you need to sort it out,” Judge Rielly said, adding that no one wanted to see her end up in prison.
