Gumleaf
September 23rd, 2008, 06:41 AM
15:13 AEST Tue Sep 23 2008
A young woman who stalked and ran down a 15-year-old girl with her car after becoming involved in a heated schoolyard feud in Brisbane has been jailed.
Jessica Elizabeth Webster, 19, pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court to running down the girl, Chantelle, as she walked home from her boyfriend's home at Algester, in Brisbane's south, in February this year.
Webster's lesbian lover, Amie Lee Beale, 18, who also was involved in the incident, wept and shouted "I love you" as corrective services officers led her away from court on Tuesday to begin a 12-month prison sentence.
Prosecutor Todd Fuller told the court the incident was the result of a long-running feud between Chantelle and a fellow female high school student.
An earlier court hearing heard that the feud was a dispute involving boys, and Chantelle had allegedly been subjected to numerous threatening mobile phone messages and cyber bullying.
Mr Fuller told the court the dispute escalated a week before the incident when Chantelle and the other girl were involved in an altercation at a local shopping centre.
On February 11, the court heard, the girl's older sister enlisted the help of some older friends including Webster and Beale to try to coax Chantelle into a fight.
They went to her house but after finding she wasn't home called her at least 20 times with threats to stab her and her family if she did not fight.
Chantelle initially refused and went to her boyfriend's house for safety, but later agreed to meet the group in a nearby park.
Mr Fuller said Webster, then aged 18, was driving in the area and saw Chantelle walking down the road.
The court was told she accelerated and drove at her before swerving at the last minute, striking her on the leg with a tyre in the process, and driving off.
Chantelle was knocked down and suffered a fractured ankle which required surgery and physiotherapy and the injury still caused her pain, Mr Fuller said.
She also had been forced to change schools and her family had to change addresses because of the incident.
However, the court was told Webster did not realise she had struck her and believed she had only clipped her back pack.
She did not know Chantelle prior to the incident but was supporting her friends in the dispute.
Judge Leanne Clare described Webster's actions as "callous and cowardly".
"There is compelling evidence you intended to terrorise her and you used your car as a weapon," she said.
She sentenced Webster to three years jail, suspended after 12 months, and banned her from driving for five years.
Beale was fined $750 earlier this year for her involvement, while another girl was placed on probation.
A young woman who stalked and ran down a 15-year-old girl with her car after becoming involved in a heated schoolyard feud in Brisbane has been jailed.
Jessica Elizabeth Webster, 19, pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court to running down the girl, Chantelle, as she walked home from her boyfriend's home at Algester, in Brisbane's south, in February this year.
Webster's lesbian lover, Amie Lee Beale, 18, who also was involved in the incident, wept and shouted "I love you" as corrective services officers led her away from court on Tuesday to begin a 12-month prison sentence.
Prosecutor Todd Fuller told the court the incident was the result of a long-running feud between Chantelle and a fellow female high school student.
An earlier court hearing heard that the feud was a dispute involving boys, and Chantelle had allegedly been subjected to numerous threatening mobile phone messages and cyber bullying.
Mr Fuller told the court the dispute escalated a week before the incident when Chantelle and the other girl were involved in an altercation at a local shopping centre.
On February 11, the court heard, the girl's older sister enlisted the help of some older friends including Webster and Beale to try to coax Chantelle into a fight.
They went to her house but after finding she wasn't home called her at least 20 times with threats to stab her and her family if she did not fight.
Chantelle initially refused and went to her boyfriend's house for safety, but later agreed to meet the group in a nearby park.
Mr Fuller said Webster, then aged 18, was driving in the area and saw Chantelle walking down the road.
The court was told she accelerated and drove at her before swerving at the last minute, striking her on the leg with a tyre in the process, and driving off.
Chantelle was knocked down and suffered a fractured ankle which required surgery and physiotherapy and the injury still caused her pain, Mr Fuller said.
She also had been forced to change schools and her family had to change addresses because of the incident.
However, the court was told Webster did not realise she had struck her and believed she had only clipped her back pack.
She did not know Chantelle prior to the incident but was supporting her friends in the dispute.
Judge Leanne Clare described Webster's actions as "callous and cowardly".
"There is compelling evidence you intended to terrorise her and you used your car as a weapon," she said.
She sentenced Webster to three years jail, suspended after 12 months, and banned her from driving for five years.
Beale was fined $750 earlier this year for her involvement, while another girl was placed on probation.