A pregnant woman sobbed and briefly collapsed to her knees before being hugged by her dad after she was sentenced to jail in Orange court.
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Tahneigh Sutton of Glenroi, was on bail when she appeared in Orange Local Court on Wednesday, February 7, for assaulting two police officers and hindering their attempts to arrest her then boyfriend.
The court was told police had gone to 19-year-old Sutton's former address in Orange on September 8, 2023, and were attempting to arrest her then boyfriend but she tried to get between the officers and her partner to prevent his arrest.
She was not pregnant at the time of the offence.
Video of the incident filmed on a police officer's body-worn camera was played in the courtroom. It showed Sutton screaming and swearing at the police officers saying "leave him alone you mother f---ers" and other derogatory terms.
The video also showed her assaulting two of the officers, she repeatedly slapped one senior constable and pushed another before being arrested.
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Throughout the screening Sutton wiped at her eyes but remained quiet.
Following the video police prosecutor Sergeant Carl Smith commended the calm demeanour of one of the police officers who was slapped.
"He remained extremely calm and in control in an extremely difficult situation," Sergeant Smith said.
According to court documents, police arrived at Sutton's former address following a triple zero call at 7.37pm.
They were in the process of trying to arrest her former partner when Sutton entered the room and placed herself in positions that made it difficult for the police to gain control of him.
This caused police to wrestle on the ground with her partner. As they were securing him, Sutton began slapping one of the officers in the head and pushing the other police officer. A third officer, a sergeant intervened and moved her away.
The boyfriend was removed from the house but when he was being placed in the police vehicle Sutton tried to get between police and her boyfriend.
The accused again struck the first senior constable in the head again.
She was taken to the ground and arrested and was then transported to Orange Police Station.
Following her arrest she admitted to assaulting the two police officers. She also apologised to the police and expressed genuine remorse for her actions.
Neither officer sustained any injuries.
At the time of the offending Sutton was also subject to conditional correction orders for driving a stolen Ford Ranger ute and for a related break and enter at Foodworks Supermarket where confectionery was stolen.
She was also in breach of a CCO for stalk/intimidation and a conditional release order for breaching an AVO.
Sutton's solicitor Usman Naveed said the assault on the police officers was "spontaneous" and afterwards she showed "genuine remorse".
"She did apologise for her behaviour," Mr Naveed said.
He said Sutton had a problem with drugs at the time saying "ice was consumed at the age of 16".
Mr Naveed said Sutton has also stopped using drugs.
"She's now pregnant, she's no longer consuming drugs and alcohol," he said.
He said Sutton has recently moved back in with her family and her parents have attended every court day and would provide strict supervision.
Magistrate David Day raised the issue of her being on conditional liberty at the time due to the CCOs and CRO.
"She had made a promise to the community to be of good behaviour," Mr Day said noting the conditions of those orders.
"The most serious call-up matters involve her driving a stolen car and being involved in a break and enter at Canowindra.
"She was extended a degree of leniency due to her age and the company she was keeping."
In respect to the assault police matters Mr Day said "even a low end assault police is a serious matter".
"There are probably some people in the public gallery who have never seen that behaviour," Mr Day said after the video was played.
Mr Day revoked Sutton's previous CCOs and CRO and re-sentenced her to a term of full-term jail.
He also sentenced her to full-time jail for the two police assaults and hindering police.
"Her risk of reoffending is high," Mr Day said.
He said he had "no confidence" that Sutton would abide by conditions of a community-based sentence "if she didn't think being on a CCO and a CRO was going to stop her going out with the boys to Canowindra".
He gave her a total full-time jail sentence of 12 months with a nine-month non-parole period.
Sutton, who had been on bail, burst into tears at the pronouncement of the sentence and custody officers gave her dad a moment to hug her before she was taken to the cells.
She spent two nights in custody on remand before reappearing in Orange Local Court on Friday, February 9, to make a bail application after lodging a severity appeal.
Sutton cried and sobbed throughout her bail application.
"I suppose Miss Sutton didn't realise how close she was to going into custody," Mr Day said.
"The offences are serious, they are violent, there are also the property offences."
During the application, Mr Naveed raised her need for rehabilitation and her young age adding that she complied with previous bail conditions.
Mr Day said Sutton had a limited history but re-iterated the serious nature of her offence.
"There's a view of the courts to be lenient on young offenders that they will rehabilitation themselves," he said.
Mr Day decided to grant Sutton bail but with strict conditions including a curfew between 8pm and 7am, not to drink alcohol or take drugs.
Her severity appeal will be heard in the District Court at a later date.