Albany magistrate sends message to feuding families after two women jailed for drunken public assault

Feuding families have been put on notice by an Albany magistrate after two women were sent to prison for a drunken group assault sparked by family tensions. Stevie Marie Joan Nannup, 26, Danielle Emily Jane Woods, 31, and Justine Lauren Woods, 30, appeared in Albany Magistrate’s Court on Monday for a scheduled two-day trial. Each woman was represented by a different lawyer as they arrived at court to fight two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm relating to an attack on two other women in the Albany CBD. However, after speaking with their lawyers and viewing CCTV footage of the July 4 incident, the women changed their pleas to guilty. Nannup was sentenced to 10 months in prison, while Danielle Woods was sentenced to nine months. The younger Woods sister, Justine, escaped an immediate term of imprisonment for playing a “lesser” role in the group assault. She received a seven-month jail term, suspended for 12 months. Magistrate Dianne Scaddan said the sentences should serve as a “general deterrence” to feuding families that such violent incidents would not be tolerated. CCTV footage played in court on Monday showed the three women involved in an altercation with two others near the Stirling Terrace Indoor Markets. The footage, recorded just before midnight on July 4, showed Nannup “rushing” at one of the women and throwing the first punch before Danielle Woods got involved. After crossing Stirling Terrace, Justine Woods also joined in. The fight continued in view of the public, with Nannup grabbing one of the women by her hair, pulling her to the ground and dragging her. A member of the public tried to intervene to break up the brawl. The two victims sustained facial injuries, bruising and soreness as a result of multiple blows to the head and body. Police prosecutor Sgt Alan Dean said Nannup and Danielle Woods were the main aggressors. “Ultimately, an immediate term of jail is appropriate,” he said. “Family feuding has been an ongoing issue for several years now. At some point a line in the sand needs to be drawn to show it’s not tolerated — and that can be drawn today.” Lawyer Melissa Sandars, representing Danielle Woods, told the court the Woods sisters had lost their mother weeks earlier. Ms Sandars said one of the victims had been sending “traumatic messages” to Danielle Woods. A comment about her mother’s death on the night of the incident pushed her over the edge, Ms Sandars told the court. “While it was no excuse, this was the final straw for Danielle,” she said. Justine Woods’ lawyer, Lindsay Allan-McConchie, told the court this was the first time her client had been in “a fight of this kind” and she felt “embarrassed and ashamed”. Ms Allan-McConchie said it was the result of a hostile relationship between the sisters and one of the victims. She said her client had mistaken the other victim as a relative of her companion, when in fact, she was not known to the group. “For someone who is a victim of domestic violence and to see herself behave in a similar way is distressing,” she said. All three lawyers asked the court to consider a conditional suspended prison sentence for their clients. Ms Scaddan said there were several aggravating factors in the case of “group violence”. “It was late at night in a public place, and one person was not known to you,” Ms Scaddan said. She said Nannup and Danielle Woods played the more significant roles in the assaults. Ms Scaddan said family feuding was “prevalent” in Albany and an immediate prison sentence was appropriate. “It underpins a message of general deterrence for community safety,” she said.