A woman has been found guilty of pouring petrol in the home of a friend and assaulting her in a reprisal attack, believing she had killed a dog.
In the ACT Supreme Court on Friday, Kock-Kedhia Maker Makoi was found guilty of joint commission aggravated burglary, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and property damage. She was found not guilty of threatening to kill.
Kock-Kedhia Maker Makoi was one of five women, alongside Nyalat Matot, Achan Matot, Biech Maker Makoi and Akim Dau, who faced a judge-alone trial in February.
The four other women were acquitted of all charges, with Justice Belinda Baker finding there was no independent evidence placing them at the scene of the crime.
The women had been accused of breaking into a friend's unit in Hawker on June 22, 2020, in an attack where they allegedly poured petrol in the living room, assaulted her and smashed furniture.
They were also accused of threatening to burn the friend alive after blaming her for the death of Kock-Kedhia Maker Makoi's dog, Nipsy.
Giving evidence during the trial, the victim claimed the women had forgotten to bring a lighter, but had doused her apartment and bedsheets in petrol, as well as beat her with a bronze wine rack.
On Friday, Justice Baker said she had "real concerns" about the victim's evidence when it came to identifying the women.
She said the victim had "limited ability to discern any particular woman from the rest", was "extremely distressed and in pain" and "reported briefly losing consciousness" at the time of the crimes.
However, Justice Baker stated that, in general, the victim's account was plausible and her "description of the assault and the damage are broadly consistent".
"I have no doubt [the victim] was assaulted and her property damaged," she said.
Justice Baker found that evidence from a neighbour, who was an independent witness, proved Kock-Kedhia Maker Makoi was present.
She said the neighbour had heard a woman yelling "you killed my f---ing dog" on the night in question and saw six or seven people of African appearance leave the victim's unit.
The judge found the yelling about the dog was "a threat of a nature that could only be made by Kock-Kedhia Maker Makoi".
"Evidence in relation to remaining accused was not supported by independent evidence," Justice Baker said.
Justice Baker stated that for a lay person the verdicts "may seem counterintuitive ... however, this consequence follows from the heavy onus of proof that rests on the prosecution".
During the trial, a witness, who was staying at the unit on the night in question, did not complete giving evidence.
About 15 minutes into cross-examination, the witness, giving evidence via audio visual link, disconnected the call after being asked about inconsistencies.
She was then not contactable the following day.
Justice Baker said she accepted this "could have been frustration with the trial process rather than recognition she was about to be caught out giving false evidence".
The judge found that due to the defence not being able to fully question the witness, it was "unsafe and unfair to the accused to place any weight on the evidence in these circumstances".
Kock-Kedhia Maker Makoi's case is now scheduled to go before a registrar on June 1.
