A Thirroul woman has been found guilty of assault by spitting on a man during the height of COVID lockdown in a road rage incident.
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Jannine Lauren Vincent, 56, was driving her Mitsubishi Delica home from Wollongong Hospital after visiting her ill mother on July 29, 2021.
Passing Bulli Woolworths, a car driven by a man began travelling behind Vincent.
The man said Vincent's car was billowing smoke so he moved into the right hand lane to overtake the vehicle.
In giving evidence in Wollongong Local Court on Monday, the man said he waved his hand out his drivers' side window as a "courtesy wave" as he overtook Vincent.
The man then moved back into the left hand lane before the Princes Highway splits into Lawrence Hargrave Drive heading to Thirroul.
The man said Vincent began blowing her horn continuously, flashing her lights and this did not stop until the intersection with Wrexham Road.
There, the man stopped in the right hand lane to turn right onto Wrexham Road. Vincent pulled up behind the man's car and got out of her vehicle.
The man tried to wind up his window but it was halfway up by the time Vincent got to his car.
The man said Vincent was yelling and screaming saying words such as "f-ing men" before spitting on the man.
The incident occurred during the height of lockdowns in 2021, two days after then-Premier Gladys Berejiklian extended the month lockdown for another four weeks.
Vincent then returned to her car and drove off.
Returning home, the man reported what had happened to police, who took photos of the spit on the driver's dashboard. Later, the man also sent police photos of spit on his sunglasses before going to get a COVID test which came back negative.
Vincent denied spitting on the man and said that instead, he was the one driving dangerously.
Giving evidence on Monday, Vincent said the driver cut in front of her as she was driving down the Princes Highway in Bulli. Then, she beeped her horn at him and tried to get in front of him but couldn't.
Vincent said that instead of a wave, the man driving put his finger up at her.
Cross examining Vincent, police prosecutor Kylie Talty said that the hand gesture was instead a wave.
"It didn't look that friendly," Vincent said.
Vincent said the driver stopped in front of her in the right hand lane with no indicator and this was when she left her vehicle.
"What I regret most was getting out of the car," she said on Monday.
Vincent said she went up to the man driving in front of her and yelled at him.
"Are you trying to f-ing kill me," she said.
When police visited Vincent after the incident, Vincent denied spitting at the man, but acknowledged that she was irate and that may have led to spittle flying at the male driver. Body worn camera footage played to Wollongong Local Court showed Vincent's response.
"It wasn't on his face, I can tell you that," she told police.
In court, Vincent said she suffers from dry mouth and could not have created enough spit to leave the amount seen on the male driver's dash.
In making his decision, Magistrate Robert Walker said that Vincent's assault of the man occurred during a time when spitting was of particular concern.
"I take note this is during the COVID situation," he said.
Magistrate Walker said that Vincent's rage towards the driver was a result of her frustration with the condition of her mother.
"She took it out on the first person she could see, and that was a man driving in a manner that was not safe, or so she thought," he said.
Describing the altercation as an incident of "road rage" something that Mr Walker called a "scourge in our society", he said the particular circumstances of this case were unusual.
"When someone gets out of their car, you know there's going to be some trouble," he said. "A woman getting out of a car is a very strange thing indeed."
Mr Walker said that spitting was a case of battery, not just assault and that there was "substantial" evidence pointing toward the spit, denied by Vincent.
"I'm satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that what Vincent did was spit onto the victim," he said.
Magistrate Walker imposed a $250 fine on Vincent.
Read more Illawarra court and crime stories here.
