Levayda Janet Woods, 30, sentenced to prison after assault on daughter, home burglary and car theft

An Albany woman who assaulted her daughter and stole a car was thrown out of court for screaming at the magistrate after she was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison and tried to change her plea. Levayda Janet Woods, 30, appeared in custody in Albany Magistrates Court on Thursday charged with aggravated assault, trespassing, home burglary, stealing and stealing a motor vehicle. On July 26, Woods slapped her 11-year-old daughter across the face outside Spencer Park IGA and called her a “disrespectful dog” in front of her other child. Five days later on July 31, Woods walked into a 60-year-old man’s apartment on South Coast Highway in Lockyer and threatened to smash “every window in the place” before entering a neighbouring unit and taking a set of keys, which she used to steal a yellow MG MG3 hatchback. Police found Woods’ fingerprints on the rearview mirror when they recovered the car several days later in Mira Mar. Woods was arrested in Spencer Park on August 3 after a short foot chase. Defence lawyer Bruno Illari said Woods was in the throes of methamphetamine addiction and may have been experiencing drug-induced psychosis. He said she “began hearing voices” from her daughter at the time of the assault and thought her children were in the stolen vehicle. He also said Woods had received “considerable injuries” and potential brain damage as a result of “serious” domestic violence. Woods initially pleaded guilty to all charges, but tried to change her plea when she realised that she was likely to face prison time. After she repeatedly yelled for the magistrate to change her plea and screamed, “I swear to God I’m not f...... going guilty now”, Woods was removed from the courtroom. Magistrate Erin O’Donnell said Woods had a history of similar offending, including a month-long crime spree in which she committed more than 70 offences against the elderly in 2016, and her sentence needed to “be one that sends a message to others in the community that home burglaries and assaults are dealt with in a serious way”. “Ms Woods was clearly in the grip of significant meth addiction, however, as demonstrated in court today, she doesn’t require drugs to demonstrate erratic and disorderly behaviour — it has become an entrenched pattern,” she said. Two previous community-based orders were cancelled and she was sentenced to two years and eight months imprisonment, backdated to August 3. If you or someone you know is experiencing family violence, phone 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) or the Crisis Care Helpline on 1800 199 008.