Cynthia Siemson ordered to complete 200 hours of community service after being convicted of affray

Cynthia Siemsen, 34, was charged with affray and on August 9 was sentenced in Griffith Local Court after she pled guilty.

According to documents tendered to court, the victim and family members were celebrating a birthday when around 6pm Siemsen and others began shouting abuse towards the victim and witnesses from outside their property.

A serious physical confrontation unfolded in the front yard of the victim's house. Two witnesses used mobile phones to record the situation.

The police documents stated that during the incident the victim was knocked to the ground and Siemsen approached her and kicked her in the head. She then took hold of the victim's hair and punched her in the head, before wrestling with the victim on the ground.

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A witness armed themselves with a knife and the parties separated. Griffith police received numerous calls about the brawl.

When the police arrived Siemsen was still yelling abuse towards the victim. Paramedics attended and treated the victim who had reported head pain.

In the documents, police said they had several reports of an ongoing conflict between the neighbours.

Siemsen's lawyer Olivia Harris told the court the behaviour approached the middle range of objective seriousness and said it was her client's only entry on her criminal history.

She conceded that children witnessing the violence was an aggravating factor, and that it involved a victim who was on the ground.

Ms Harris told the court there had previously been provocation from the victim.

She told the court Siemsen was the primary carer for three children, was suitable for community service and she was unlikely to re-offend.

Magistrate Lisa Stapleton accepted Siemsen's plea and described the offence as a case of "shocking violence".

Ms Stapleton accepted there could have been provocation.

"But all you can do is complain to police," she said.

"You can't take matters into your own hands."

Ms Stapleton noted the maximum available sentence for affray could be up to 10 years in jail, and said it was fortunate the victim was not seriously injured.

She said the threshold for a prison sentence hadn't been crossed, and sentenced Siemsen to a two-year supervised community corrections order and ordered her to complete 200 hours of community service.

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