“That lady would have been petrified.”

Those were the words of a magistrate about a woman who was sitting in a car in a Shepparton car park at night when a man kicked the side mirror off her vehicle after trying to get in.

Kristopher Castle, 26, of Tatura, pleaded guilty in the Koori Court division of Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to one count of criminal damage.

The court was told the woman had been waiting to pick up her daughter in the car park at the Goulburn Valley Hotel at 10.30pm on July 24 last year.

Two males came out of the hotel and one started abusing the woman.

A third man then came out of the hotel.

Concerned, the woman locked her car doors and started filming everyone in the area on her phone.

One of the men also said to the woman “come out and fight”.

Castle was one of those in the car park and he attempted to open the passenger door of the car, before kicking the side mirror and breaking it.

Castle’s defence solicitor Ian Michaelson told the court his client “wasn’t aware of the precursor” for the woman to be filming.

“It’s because the people exited the hotel and abused the lady in the car, which frightened her, and she started to film,” he said.

“But he wasn’t aware of the prior incident.”

Mr Michaelson said the woman filming him “triggered” Castle’s anxiety.

“He was not appreciating he was not the subject of the filming,” he said.

Magistrate Ian Watkins said the incident did not just involve the damage to the car.

“That lady would have been petrified,” he said.

“He’s lucky he’s not charged with something else.

“How would you feel if your partner came home and said this happened to me?”

Mr Watkins said the incident also occurred only one week after the court put Castle on an adjourned undertaking to be of good behaviour for another matter.

In a discussion with First Nations Elders in court, Castle was told he could not do this sort of thing, especially to a woman.

Aunty Pam Pederson told Castle the incident shouldn’t have happened.

“A woman was there waiting for her daughter. Could you imagine how it felt,” she said.

“She must have been terrified.”

Aunty Pam suggested to Castle that he should write the woman an apology letter.

Mr Watkins did not finalise the matter in court, instead adjourning his sentence until October.

“A year ago you gave the court your word and a week later you did this and petrified this lady,” he said.

He told Castle to write a letter to the victim and speak to police about how much money the repairs to the mirror cost, before he returned to court.

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Sunday, 14th May 2023

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