A young woman from Byron Bay slugged her friend and called her a ‘two-faced b****’ after the pair got into a jealous argument over a man.
Eva Harrelson, 21, on Tuesday fronted Melbourne Magistrates’ Court where she accepted that she had assaulted her friend.
Harrelson, who posts glamorous influencer-style content on Instagram, had been charged after the incident, which occurred in Melbourne’s inner-south on June 22 this year.
The court heard an argument broke out between Harrelson and the victim about a ‘male associate they had both met in the weeks prior’.
Harrelson argued with the victim and another person for an hour in her bedroom.
She called the victim a ‘two-faced b****’ and said to her and the other person: ‘I am so close to both f***ing hitting you right now.’
Harrelson struck the victim across her face with the ‘left side of her hand’ as she was sitting on the bed.
The impact caused the victim to be knocked over on the bed, the court was told.
A well-travelled young woman from Byron Bay slugged her friend and called her a ‘two-faced b****’ after the pair got into a jealous argument over a man
Harrelson, who posts glamorous influencer-style content on Instagram, had been charged after the incident, which occurred in SUBURB on DATE
Harrelson kept yelling at the victim after the assault.
When she stopped yelling, the victim went to the bathroom and spoke to her brother via Instagram about what had just happened.
The court heard that Harrelson ordered the victim to leave her house as soon as she exited the bathroom.
The victim then reported Harrelson to police, who contacted the accused before she was summonsed to the police station for questioning.
Harrelson admitted to police that she had struck the victim.
‘Yeah, I pretty much smacked her across the face,’ Harrelson said.
Harrelson also admitted to police that she was very ‘heated and upset’ in her room at the time of the incident.
‘It was just plain-straight, like, [a] smack across the face. It wasn’t, like, hard. Like, it was like a hit. Like, it wasn’t, like, big. It was, like, you know, a slap,’ she said.
The court heard that Harrelson ordered the victim (not pictured) to leave her house as soon as she exited the bathroom, where she was speaking to her brother via Instagram
Harrelson has been posting on Instagram about her new career as a roustabout
Harrelson, who represented herself while wearing a sleek and professional court outfit, accepted the summary of allegations.
However, she alleged that the victim had exaggerated the ferocity of the assault.
‘Yeah, but she did lie about how I did it,’ Harrelson told the court.
‘Um, she said it was a half-closed fist but it was an open-hand slap to the face, yeah.’
While disputing the finer points of the assault, Harrelson told the court that she ‘took full accountability for my actions’.
‘I am genuinely sorry and I have no excuse about raising a hand to another person. I have taken steps [to] see a psychologist for [mental health issues] and my impulse [control],’ she said.
Harrelson, who was charged with the unlawful assault on July 24, also said she had taken up full-time work in the country, working six and ‘sometimes seven days’ a week as a roustabout.
The court heard Harrelson grew up near Byron Bay but had travelled around, living on the Gold Coast for a period of time.
Harrelson explained that she was in Melbourne during the period when the assault occurred for ‘family’ reasons.
Harrelson said she worked alongside her father in construction on the Gold Coast before becoming a dental assistant there and later in Melbourne. She recently took up work as a semi-skilled manual labourer.
The court granted Harrelson diversion after being informed that she wrote the victim a letter of apology shortly after the incident.
Her matter will be discharged in 12 months if there are no further slip-ups.
