Shantelle Maree Irwin convicted in Dubbo court after punching man she accused of cheating

Shantelle Maree Irwin, 33, and her former partner attended a friend's home in South Dubbo, about 8pm on July 10.

Irwin and the man were in the backyard of the house, when an argument broke out, where she claimed he had been cheating on her.

She became increasingly aggressive, before she walked over and punched the man in his face and chest.

The man put his hands around Irwin's neck in attempt to push her away, police said.

READ ALSO:

One of their friends and witness to the incident attempted to stop the fight, when Irwin turned and became aggressive toward her. Another argument broke out when Irwin grabbed the woman's hair and pulled it.

Irwin eventually left the house and began walking down the street. The man, police said, feared for his safety and walked in the opposite direction to an unknown location.

Police arrived and spoke with the witness who explained what had happened.

A short time later, officers saw Irwin walking back toward the house. Irwin approached police in an aggressive manner and said "I just rang my f--king mother, I want my s--t and I'm going home. You're a s--t shut the f--k up".

Police arrested Irwin who was placed in handcuffs. When she was asked questions Irwin told officers "he cheated on me and I found out. So I hit him and he grabbed me around the throat because I tried to overpower him".

Due to Irwin's mental state, officers requested an ambulance to attend. When paramedics arrived, police said Irwin was aggressive and hostile. Police assisted paramedics in getting Irwin into the ambulance, however while one of the female constables was holding her left arm, Irwin lifted up her leg and kicked it back into the constable's leg.

She was arrested by police at Dubbo hospital the next morning.

Irwin pleaded guilty to assaulting an officer in the execution of duty, contravening an apprehended domestic violence order and assault in Dubbo Local Court on Wednesday.

While defence lawyer Scott Affleck conceded the offences were "concerning", he argued they occurred in the context of his client's poor mental health and substance abuse issues.

However he said her drug abuse was something she had gone a long way to address.

The court heard Irwin was scheduled to attend a rehabilitation centre and will undergo detox later this month. Mr Affleck said she had also engaged with a number of mental health providers to reduce her alcohol and cannabis intake.

Magistrate Imad Abdul-Karim found Irwin had a limited criminal record, with the exception of one matter from April this year, previously her last had been in October 2017.

He accepted she had completed nine out of 11 sessions with the court merit program and was addressing her drug use.

Irwin was convicted and placed on a 12-month supervised community corrections order.