UPDATE, Saturday, 9.15am: A NIGHTMARE neighbour who made terrifying threats will spend another month in jail after having all her criminal matters finalised in court.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Kerry Leanne Newby, 45, of Princes Highway, Killarney, on Thursday pleaded guilty in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court to 11 offences, involving four police briefs of evidence, and also to breaching a community corrections order previously imposed for similar offending.
Sentencing was adjourned until Friday so Newby could be assessed for another CCO but she was found unsuitable.
Lawyer Amanda Chambers explained her client was not willing to do live-in rehabilitation as she wanted to care for her child and other services had already been offered in the past.
She said that last year Newby was jailed for 66 days with a CCO for more serious offending committed over a longer period, including assault.
Ms Chambers said the current offending did not include a physical assault and Newby had a great desire to see her ill sister before she passed away.
Magistrate Cynthia Toose said the worst of the offending involved Newby threatening to kill a neighbour and his dogs and burn down his house.
"Difficulties with alcohol exacerbate your behaviour. You engage in inappropriate behaviour and say inappropriate things," she told Newby.
"You have been imprisoned before and seemed to have learnt nothing.
"If you keep drinking you will keep coming back to court and just be jailed for longer terms. You are just wasting your life because of your alcoholism," she said.
Newby was jailed for a total effective sentence of 104 days with 75 counts as already served.
She was also fined $2200.
Friday: AN alcoholic nightmare neighbour who threatened to kill a man, his dogs and burn down his house is expected to be jailed on Friday after repeat offending.
Kerry Leanne Newby, 45, of Princes Highway, Killarney, pleaded guilty in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court on Thursday to 11 offences involving four police briefs of evidence and also to breaching a community corrections order previously imposed for similar offending.
Magistrate Cynthia Toose described Newby's efforts on the current CCO as an abject failure.
The slightly built Newby was drinking bottles of spirits a day during her most recent offending.
In March Shepparton police charged Newby with causing damage and possession of cannabis after she damaged a frame and pictures while drunk.
Within four hours Newby had again attracted the attention of police by going back to a property which she was banned from attending.
In early April Newby spent time at the Killarney beach with a family member but threatened her ex-partner by raising a scooter and saying she should smash his face.
Then a couple of days later, neighbours called police to Killarney saying Newby was intoxicated, yelling abuse and banging their fence.
Police went to her home but she retreated inside and refused to engage with them.
Officers returned the next day and put in place an order protecting the neighbours, explaining the conditions to Newby.
But just 20 minutes after officers left, they were called back by the neighbours after Newby threatening to kill a man and their dogs and to burn down their house.
Newby was heavily intoxicated and abusive.
She has a history of similar offending in the past few years and neighbours are concern she is capable of carrying out her threats.
Lawyer Amanda Chambers said her client had spent 75 days in custody and had now detoxified.
Last time in court Newby was jailed for 66 days and placed on the CCO.
She said Newby was angry and belligerent when on alcohol, but when clean and sober she was a delight to assist.
Ms Chambers said her client was also self-medicating with cannabis at the time of her offending, she only lasted four days in Killarney before being arrested and she had been consuming bottles of spirits each day.
She said there were triggers which sparked Newby’s drinking and the death of a family member in her home set her on a destructive path previously.
The lawyer said Newby’s sister was presently gravely ill and getting toward the end of her life.
The magistrate said Newby had been given every opportunity to address her alcohol issues in the past.
“She’s a nightmare for her neighbours. She should be capable of rehabilitation,” Ms Toose said.
The magistrate said she understood the neighbours would have been terrified after they, their pets and their home had been threatened by Newby.