A woman involved in a love triangle who assaulted and threatened to kill her former lawyer’s wife reappeared in court yesterday.

Carina Dornelas, 45, admitted threatening to kill Heather Funk, causing her bodily harm and sending her an offensive text message when she appeared in Magistrates’ Court in December.

Prosecutor Kael London told the court yesterday that Dornelas, from Southampton, had sent the offensive message from the phone of Ms Funk’s husband, Cameron Hill, in October.

One month later, Dornelas slapped and threatened to kill Ms Funk in the couple’s home.

Mr London said Ms Funk had hit her head against a couch during the assault, causing a concussion. Her victim impact statement said the injury led to her missing one month of work.

The statement added that Ms Funk still relived the “shock, pain and abuse” of the incident and that Dornelas’s message “shakes [her] to the core”.

Mr London highlighted that Dornelas committed the offences while on bail for other matters and requested that she spend ten months behind bars.

Charles Richardson, for Dornelas, said there was a love triangle between his client, Mr Hill and Ms Funk, and that Dornelas had briefly lived with the couple.

He claimed the altercation occurred after Ms Funk shoved Dornelas and that the concussion, which he said was not medically verified, was an “unintended consequence” of the assault.

Dornelas also appeared yesterday in connection with obtaining two kettlebell exercise weights by deception, which she had admitted during an earlier court appearance.

The court heard that Che Bean gave Dornelas $300 for three kettlebells in May 2024 but claimed to only have received one, valued at $100, from her.

Mr London suggested that Dornelas be fined $500 for the offence and pay Mr Bean $200 in restitution.

Magistrate Maria Sofianos adjourned the matters to April 24 for either sentencing or to set a Newton hearing — where evidence is given to determine the severity of offences.

She extended Dornelas’s bail until that time.

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