A 21-year-old woman from Byron Bay allegedly struck her friend during a jealous dispute over a man, calling her a “two-faced b****” in the heated exchange.
Eva Harrelson appeared before Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday and acknowledged that she had assaulted her friend.
Harrelson, who shares glamorous, influencer-style images on Instagram, was charged over the incident in Melbourne’s inner south on June 22 this year.
The court heard the argument centred on a “male associate they had both met in the weeks prior”.
Harrelson spent about an hour arguing with the victim and another person inside her bedroom.
During the confrontation, she called the victim a “two-faced b****” and told both people: “I am so close to both f***ing hitting you right now.”
While the victim was sitting on the bed, Harrelson struck her across the face with the “left side of her hand”.
The blow knocked the victim over on the bed, the court was told.
A young woman from Byron Bay allegedly struck her friend and called her a “two-faced b****” during a jealous argument over a man
Harrelson, who shares glamorous influencer-style content on Instagram, was charged over an incident that occurred in SUBURB on DATE
Harrelson continued shouting at the victim after the alleged assault.
Once the yelling stopped, the victim went to the bathroom and used Instagram to tell her brother what had happened.
According to the court, Harrelson told the victim to leave the house as soon as she came out of the bathroom.
The victim later reported the incident to police. Officers contacted Harrelson before summonsing her to a police station for questioning.
Harrelson admitted to police that she had hit the victim.
“Yeah, I pretty much smacked her across the face,” Harrelson said.
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She also told officers that she had been “heated and upset” in her bedroom at the time.
“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 Harrelson told the victim, who is not pictured, to leave the house after she emerged from the bathroom, where she had been speaking to her brother via Instagram
Harrelson has posted 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.