A WOMAN slashed the tyres of her friend's car because the victim had been driving unsupervised as a learner, a court has been told.
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The 29-year-old appeared in the Bendigo Magistrates' Court on Wednesday where she pleaded guilty to charges of assault and tampering with a motor vehicle.
The court heard on June 17, 2019, the woman went to her friend's house in Golden Square.
When the woman would not answer the front door, the offender went to her friend's parked car and let the air out of the tyres.
The victim saw the incident and called 000 as she came to the front yard to confront the 29-year-old.
The court heard the victim pushed the offender and a scuffle broke out between the pair.
During the altercation, the 29-year-old punched the victim to the face.
The victim was on the phone to 000 during the incident, which was also captured on CCTV footage.
Police arrived a short time later and spoke to the pair. The 29-year-old admitted to tampering with the vehicle and assaulting her friend, but she said it was done in self-defence.
Defence lawyer Robert Timms told the court his client and the victim were still close friends.
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Mr Timms said the woman went to the property because she knew her friend, who held a learner's permit, had been driving unsupervised with children in the car.
The defence lawyer said the woman acknowledged there would have been more sensible ways to resolve the issue.
Mr Timms submitted that a small fine would be an appropriate sentence.
Magistrate Sharon McRae told the court she accepted that things had changed in the two years since the offending.
But Ms McRae said the woman should not "take the law into (her) own hands".
The woman was handed a $400 fine without conviction.
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