from www.news.com.au – IDENTICAL twin teen sisters Courtney and Amelia Prentice did everything together, a court heard – including taking part in a violent all-girl gang bashing on Surfers Paradise beach.
But despite pleading guilty to what a judge described as a “shameful” pack attack, the Prentice siblings were spared jail – partly because of confusion over who did what.
The Southport District Court was told the twins, 19 earlier this month, were part of a group of up to nine young women who bashed and robbed two females cooling their feet in the surf after a night of clubbing in Surfers in February last year, The Courier-Mail reports.
The victims had their hair pulled violently, were knocked to the ground and punched in the head. One of the victims heard someone in the group yell “stab her, stab her” as an attacker wrestled with her handbag.
The court was told the Prentice girls were arrested by police at gunpoint at their Labrador home after Courtney tried to punch police and her brother threatened to stab the officers.
Courtney’s barrister, Adrian Donaldson, said his client and her sister had gained “some notoriety” because they were twins and accused police of being heavy-handed.
Mr Donaldson said his client had learned “a salutory lesson” after spending 18 days in custody and being placed under a court-imposed night curfew. Her sister suffered the same fate.
Sarah Thompson, for Amelia, said the girl was “embarrassed … and said it will never happen again”.
Both twins had reformed, were planning university studies and helping to care for their sick mother, their barristers told the court.
Judge Leanne Clare told the twins the community was “outraged at random violence which is happening more and more in public places”.
Judge Clare told the girls they were part of a group which was “hovering about drunk, looking to make trouble and apparently itching for a fight with somebody”.
She said: “The two of you were were in the middle of it (and) you were both part of what can only be described as a gratuitous and cowardly attack.
“This was shameful pack behaviour.”
But Judge Clare said there was confusion about “who did what” and the twins had been prosecuted largely on their own admissions.
She also said they were young, had no prior convictions and were taking steps to turn their lives around. The twins were sentenced to 18 months’ probation, with no convictions recorded.