Woman who smeared dog poo over her ex's Maserati in Portadown was 'driven to desperation' Craigavon court hears

Justyna Kaznowska, aged 32, of Armagh Road, Portadown was in court on Wednesday for sentencing.

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In September she pleaded guilty to two charges of assaulting a man on April 4 this year and damaging a vehicle belonging to the same man on July 16 this year with the domestic violence aggravator attached to both charges.

The court heard police were called by the injured party who said his ex-partner, Kaznowska, had gone to his current partner’s address in Portadown.

"He alleged she had smeared dog faeces over the front door of the address and smeared dog faeces over his car which is a Maserati,” said the prosecutor.

When police arrived they saw dog faeces on the door handle of the address and the driver door handle and driver window of the injured party’s vehicle.

The injured party also alleged that on Friday, April 4, this year the defendant had attacked him outside his mother’s address by grabbing him by the face and leaving a scrab mark near his left eye. The defendant was arrested at her work address and made full admissions in interview.

When asked about hitting the injured party, she said she “tried her best to hit him”.

Kaznowska’s solicitor Mr Seamus Lannon pointed out his client made immediate admissions in interview and before the court. He described her as being “wrecked with remorse” which is clear from the Pre-Sentence Report.

"In essence this is a young girl who has two children and is doing her best as a single parent with them. Whatever happened in the background, it must have been driven by some sort of desperation for her to behave the way she did because it is totally out with her character,” he said.

"The references we have here speak glowingly of her. She is deeply remorseful. She is ashamed,” said Mr Lannon, adding his client still has dealings with her ex-husband in terms of contact with the children.

He explained that Kaznowska was “isolated” here “because he was her life and he was the children’s life and that has all turned”.

"She has no family and no general support network here but one or two friends who are giving her additional support. She was reaching out in desperation at that particular time due to the way he was treating her.

"She tells me that nothing like this is ever going to happen again. She doesn’t want to be inside a courtroom again,” he said, adding she has no criminal record.

"She is ultimately a model citizen save for this aberration. She’s a model mother and her children are the best mannered children you’d meet,” he said, asking the court to deal with it as at “the lower end of the scale”.

District Judge Michael Ranaghan said: “This behaviour, bad enough as it was, is set in an issue around a previous relationship. You appear in this court with no criminal record. It’s just sad that situation deteriorated to that extent.”

He said he found sentencing “difficult” as he didn’t want to impact on her children. She was given a six months Probation Order.