A woman was shown leniency after she admitted charges of assault and property damage during a family dispute.

Ashleigh Medeiros, 33, was given a six-month conditional discharge for assaulting Manuela and Rui Medeiros, as well as damaging the doorbell and an exterior wall of the home of Mr Medeiros.

Magistrates’ Court heard that the defendant was the sister-in-law of the victims and lived in a home on the same property as Mr Medeiros in Hamilton Parish at the time of the incident.

Ashleigh Medeiros was involved in a confrontation with Ms Medeiros and her daughter, Victoria, which led to the defendant dropping dirt on their porch, on September 18 last year.

The women continued the argument outside until Ms Medeiros and her daughter went into the house.

But they heard banging near the front door and found Ashleigh Medeiros hitting the side of the house with a broken golf club.

She accused Ms Medeiros and her daughter of spying on her through the camera on their smart doorbell, which she had also smashed.

The defendant also sprayed the family with water from a hose before the family called police.

Officers arrested Ashleigh Medeiros at a later date.

Cindy Clarke, for the prosecution, said that the defendant had caused $600 of damage.

The defendant apologised to the court and said that she intended to pay for the repairs.

She added: “There are a lot of moving factors to this, but I’m sorry for breaking their camera and spraying them with a garden hose.”

Senior magistrate Juan Wolffe gave the defendant a conditional discharge and told her that she would not have a conviction recorded as long as she paid compensation and stayed out of trouble for six months.

UPDATE: this article has been updated to reflect that Ashleigh Medeiros lived on the same property as Rui and Manuela Medeiros, not in the same home. It has also been updated to reflect that Manuela and Rui Medeiros are not brother and sister, as previously stated.

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