The girl (right) leaves court with a family member.
Camera IconThe girl (right) leaves court with a family member. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Joondalup Children’s Court: girl (13) in first appearance over serious Heathridge football ‘assault’ injuries

Mark DonaldsonJoondalup Times

A 13-YEAR-old girl has made her first appearance in court charged with grievous bodily harm over a junior football assault in Heathridge that left a 15-year-old girl with serious spinal and facial injuries.

The Joondalup Children’s Court heard the girl was not permitted to play football in any WA Football Commission-sanctioned matches as part of her bail conditions.

The Community Football Tribunal had banned her from playing for eight weeks.

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The tribunal ban ends on August 24, but the bail condition will prevent her from playing after that date.

She is allowed to participate in school football at her school’s discretion.

The magistrate denied an application to have the bail condition lifted when her tribunal ban ended.

“It’s an incident that’s potentially changed another player’s life forever,” he said.

As revealed by Community News last month, the incident is alleged to have started after she had a dispute with the victim over an umpiring decision in a match between Warwick Greenwood and Ocean Ridge on June 8.

The police prosecutor told the court the incident happened about 10 minutes before the end of the game at Heathridge Park.

She said the victim said to the accused “you’re a bit cheeky aren’t you” after the accused had complained about the umpire.

She said the pair continued to argue, with the accused allegedly threatening the victim with a fight and the latter responding with: “what are you going to do about it? Look at the size of you.”

The accused is alleged to have then pulled on the victim’s pony tail before tackling her to the ground and repeatedly punching her to the face.

The victim was seriously injured, suffered concussion and dizzy spells and was left in a neck brace for eight weeks.

She had a haemorrhage in one eye and experienced partial blindness.

The girl did not enter a plea and is due back in court on September 18.