Angela Buxton: $2500 fine for violent assault at White Star Hotel that left woman with serious injuries

A Great Southern woman has been fined for assaulting another woman at the White Star Hotel in April, leaving her with a broken tailbone and bruising to her face. Angela Buxton, 30, faced Albany Magistrates Court on Tuesday, December 12 on one charge of assault occasioning bodily harm. She previously pleaded not guilty to the charge but changed her plea on Tuesday to guilty, vacating her trial. Police prosecutor Sgt Warrick Walker told the court how Buxton approached a woman at the popular venue on the night of April 29 and yelled “shut the f... up you have no right to speak about my sister”. Buxton struck the victim across her face, grabbed her hair and pulled her off the bar stool onto the floor. A scuffle broke out between the two women with Buxton pulling an earring from the victim’s ear. The victim suffered a broken coccyx (tailbone), a minor fracture, and bruising to the right eye and right ear. Buxton’s attack was sparked by comments posted to social media about a family violence situation involving her sister. Buxton’s lawyer Luke McLaughlin said she had a very difficult upbringing, noting an offence from eight years ago, for which a spent conviction was granted. “It’s completely out of character for her,” he said. “She is very unlikely to commit such an offence again.” Sgt Walker said unprovoked assaults have an “ongoing effect on the wider community” and that the victim now felt unsafe in public. Magistrate Dianne Scaddan labelled the incident as “very serious offending” that forced other people to intervene. “You may well have lost perspective and have responded in an unsavoury way,” she said. “This was all completely avoidable by you deciding not to take issue with what was said or not said on social media. “Two women scrapping on the floor is belittling for you and everyone involved. “You just had to stay away from the person.” Ms Scaddan denied Buxton’s application for a spent conviction, citing previous similar offences and stating that the court does not have a “crystal ball” as to whether Buxton would reoffend. Ms Scaddan took the admittance of wrongdoing and vacating a trial into account, fining Buxton $2500 of which $1000 will go to the complainant.