A 44-year-old Alpurrurulam woman has been imprisoned after pleading guilty to causing serious harm to her 55-year-old uncle, the Darwin [S…]

On 8 November last year, Lauren Barnes and her uncle were at the front yard of a home in the Alpurrurulam community with a number of people.

Both Barnes and victim became heavily intoxicated.

Around 9pm, they had an argument and Barnes armed herself with a metal pole and struck her uncle in left forearm, causing him to fall to the ground.

She continued to swing the metal pole, striking him in the face.

Barnes herself then laid on the ground a few metres away from her injured uncle.

The victim’s family attempted to help him on his feet but needed to call the on-call remote area nurse for help. The uncle suffered a large laceration to the nose and a deformation to his left arm.

He was transported to the community clinic but subsequently medevacced to the Townsville Hospital.

Justice Stephen Southwood said the victim suffered fractures to his left arm which needed surgery, a fracture to his nasal bone and a three centimetre jagged laceration to the right nostril which extended thought the cartilage from the bridge of the nose to the nostril, requiring stitches.

Barnes was sentenced to three years and nine months imprisonment, backdated to 9 November 2020 for time served.

The sentence was suspended on the conditions she not drink alcohol, be under parole for two years and nine months, be subject to the Alternative to Custody Program for two years and nine months, be under the electronic monitoring program and not leave the Northern Territory without permission and not approach her uncle.

This article appeared in the Tennant & District Times, 9 July 2021.