Frankland woman close to jail over mum attack

A Frankland woman has been warned she is very close to a jail term after assaulting her mother, 85, in front of police while on a pre-sentence order for drink driving. Magistrate Raelene Johnston told Melinda Anne Stevens, 63, she was “not off the hook” in the Albany Magistrate’s Court last Thursday. “It was my view this morning that you should go straight to jail,” Ms Johnston said. Submissions from prosecuting Sgt Alan Dean and defence counsel Graeme Payne persuaded the magistrate to allow Stevens to continue her pre-sentence order, handed to her in October, after pleading guilty to the March 2 aggravated common assault. In the WA justice system, an offender can be placed on a supervised order and have their matter adjourned for sentencing. Stevens was placed on her pre-sentence order last year after being convicted of driving at more than three times the legal alcohol limit on July 15, 2019. The court was told last year Stevens was under a lifetime licence disqualification at the time of her 0.184 reading and had served time behind bars for driving under the influence in 2002. At the time, Ms Johnston told Stevens getting behind the wheel was a “selfish act”. Ms Johnston said Stevens’ efforts to stop drinking were a mitigating factor before placing her on a 12-month pre-sentence order. In March, the court was told Stevens had struck her mother in the side of her face and pulled her hair, causing her to fall, in front of police officers in her mother’s Perth home. Mr Payne told the court his client’s mother had “made her see red” when she told police about an empty wine bottle in the home, after officers were called to the property about a separate incident. Stevens is due back in court in June.