A woman was punched, kicked and bitten on the arm by Brianna Marra in central New Plymouth last year. Photo / 123rf
A woman was punched, kicked and bitten on the arm by Brianna Marra in central New Plymouth last year. Photo / 123rf
A young woman bit a stranger’s arm and “growled like a dog” while remaining latched on for about 10 seconds during a street attack.
Brianna Marra then bit her victim for a second time.
Marra launched the attack against a woman in central New Plymouth on the afternoon ofNovember 9 last year.
The 24-year-old was sitting with friends when the victim, whom she did not know, approached, wanting to speak with one of Marra’s friends, according to a police summary of facts.
According to the summary, she bit down hard on the flesh of the victim’s forearm for about 10 seconds, causing a puncture and bleeding.
“The defendant was growling like a dog whilst biting down on her arm before letting go,” the document stated.
As the victim tried to stand up, Marra grabbed her arm again and bit her wrist.
The victim managed to pull away from the bite before Marra latched on.
Brianna Marra was sentenced in the New Plymouth District Court.
After the attack, the victim went to a hospital and was treated for her injuries.
She suffered a large open wound where she was bitten on the forearm, bruising and swelling to her wrist, and a split lip.
A few days later, while Marra was being held as a remand prisoner in the New Plymouth Remand centre, she tried to set off a fire sprinkler by smashing it with a flip-flop.
A Corrections officer who saw Marra’s actions notified colleagues and they opened her cell to take away her flip-flops.
Marra then charged at the officers but was subsequently restrained.
As the officers left the cell, Marra spat in the face of one and tried to punch her.
On Wednesday, Marra appeared in the New Plymouth District Court for sentencing on charges related to the two incidents.
Defence lawyer David Sutton told the court Marra was now a different person than she was during the offending.
Sutton said she was homeless at the time, unmedicated for her mental health issues and paranoid.
He said that during her four months in custody she had been medicated, had engaged in rehabilitation, undertaken a course and taken on prison employment.
She accepted the work needed to continue and wanted to find employment outside prison, Sutton submitted.
He said a community-based sentence would be appropriate, suggesting a custodial sentence was of no further benefit to her, given the gains she had made.
Sutton submitted for community work but Judge Ajit Swaran Singh said the Sentencing Act dissuaded such sentences for those with mental health issues.
While Sutton, who also recommended supervision, said Marra was currently stable, the judge said she has been in a controlled prison environment and people often relapse, putting themselves and others at risk.
A Corrections officer present in court confirmed that, because of Marra’s complex situation, community work would not be suitable.
Marra did not have an address available for an electronically-monitored sentence.
On admitted charges of wounding with intent to injure, injuring with intent to injure, and common assault, Judge Swaran Singh took a starting point of 20 months’ imprisonment.
The judge said that after giving Marra a discount for her guilty pleas, the new 40% credit cap only allowed for a further three months of credit, which would result in a sentence of 11 months.
However, he considered she had exceptional circumstances, which included her mental health issues, previous good character, remorse and her rehabilitation efforts, allowing him to exceed that cap.
The judge instead gave a further five months’ credit, resulting in an end sentence of nine months’ imprisonment, which would see her released from prison within two weeks.
Six months of release conditions were imposed.
Tara Shaskey is an assistant editor and reporter for the Open Justice team. She joined NZME in 2022 and has worked as a journalist since 2014.
