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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Blake Foden

Woman allegedly stabbed paramedic in face with needle, 'laughed hysterically'

A Wreck Bay woman is behind bars in Canberra after allegedly stabbing a paramedic in the face with a needle before laughing "hysterically" as the ambulance officer cried.

The 30-year-old was refused bail in the Jervis Bay Territory Court on Tuesday after being charged with recklessly or intentionally inflicting actual bodily harm.

Court documents say police spoke to the woman's on-and-off partner on Saturday afternoon after he became concerned about her "failing mental health".

The man told officers the woman had not received depot injections to treat her schizophrenia since April, and he was concerned about both her and their child.

Police and paramedics subsequently went to the woman's home in the small, coastal Indigenous community, where the 30-year-old had locked herself in a bathroom.

When she eventually engaged with members of both emergency services, she is said to have been erratic, belligerent and dismissive of suggestions she accompany paramedics to hospital for mental health treatment.

Upon being told she was to be taken into custody under mental health legislation, the woman allegedly picked up a kitchen knife and motioned as if she was going to throw it.

Eventually, after putting the knife down, she agreed to let a paramedic inject her with a drug designed to help her relax.

However, she allegedly grabbed the needle from the paramedic and stabbed her in the face with it, causing it to penetrate the ambulance officer's skin and snap off.

"[The paramedic] began to bleed and fled the room in tears whilst police apprehended the defendant who, at this time, was laughing hysterically," court documents state.

The woman allegedly went on to call the injured paramedic, who felt immediate pain, a "poor little slut".

A different ambulance officer then tried to check none of the needle had broken off in the woman's skin, allegedly prompting the 30-year-old to reply: "It's not in me. That bitch has got it in her face."

After a trip in custody to a South Coast hospital, the woman was transported to a police watch house in Canberra.

She was due to face court on Monday, but magistrate Robert Cook noted on Tuesday that the woman had been sent for a mental health assessment because she was "too agitated" to appear.

When the woman did appear on Tuesday, she interrupted proceedings on multiple occasions as she applied unsuccessfully for bail.

As Mr Cook remanded her in custody, he said he "unfortunately" did not think there was anywhere she could be appropriately accommodated in the community.

The woman is due back in court on July 26.

The ACT courts building, in which the Jervis Bay Territory Court sat on Tuesday. Picture: Karleen Minney
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