A father has asked the Wanganui District Court to provide help for his daughter's alcohol and drug problems after she vented her frustrations against her mother by breaking in and destroying the inside of her house.
Kathleen Rita McLauchlan, 20, pleaded guilty to one count of intentional damage after she and a group of friends broke into her mother's house and proceeded to burn, smash and graffiti it.
McLauchlan, who is said to have a personal grudge against her mother, went to the house with some friends about 8pm on April 5.
A friend broke a window and climbed inside to unlock the front door, letting McLauchlan and the rest of the group inside.
Once in, they sat down and began drinking some home-brew they had bought with them.
After a significant amount had been consumed, McLauchlan began drawing white supremacist symbols and phrases on the walls and a lounge suite.
With some tools found on the property, she smashed holes in the jib-board walls in the lounge and hall, and used a can of flyspray to burn a cushion and melt the fabric into the carpet.
She also burned marks into the walls and lounge suite.
All the furniture in the lounge was moved and piled into a heap as items were destroyed.
When asked about the incident, McLauchlan said she was fully responsible for the damage, which she felt was personal between herself and the victim, and would not disclose the identity of her associates.
McLauchlan's counsel, Stephanie Burlace, said McLauchlan's father was in court to support her, and she had attempted to apologise to her mother.
Her father had noticed over the last six months that she had been on a downward spiral, and had problems with alcohol.
The father asked that the court provide help for her alcohol and drug addiction.
Ms Burlace said it was McLauchlan's first offence and she did not want to be on the path she was on.
Judge Gregory Ross stood the matter down while McLauchlan talked with a probation officer, saying she could have been charged with burglary, and was not solely responsible - it was something altogether different to "gang up" with friends against her mother.
When she was recalled to the stand, probation recommended an alcohol and drug programme, and psychological assessment.
Judge Ross convicted and sentenced McLauchlan to nine months' supervision, with special conditions to undergo the suggested programmes and assessments.
The judge told McLauchlan he hoped this was the start of a new and improved phase for her.
No reparation was sought for the damage.