24-year-old Esperance woman to attend counselling after attacking the woman her partner had an affair with in Woolies

An Esperance mother who punched and stamped on the head of a woman who slept with her husband has been ordered to attend counselling to regulate her anger. Tennisha Anne Knapp, 24, pleaded guilty at Esperance Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday to assault occasioning bodily harm. The court was told Knapp walked into Woolworths and spotted the woman her husband had had an affair with doing her grocery shopping. Confronting her about the infidelity, the altercation turned physical when Knapp “exploded”, punching the woman in the face six times and stamping on her head. Despite the violent nature of the attack, the victim escaped serious injury, with only a cut to the head and minor swelling on her face. Defence lawyer Riccardo Napper urged leniency in sentencing given the mother of one’s remorse for her actions and lack of a criminal record. “The offending was completely out of character for Ms Knapp and supports her explanation where she simply lost control,” he said. “(Since then) she has been seeing Hope Counselling to try to gain assistance with her ability to regulate her emotions.” Mr Napper also applied for a spent conviction given the difficulties an assault on her criminal record would cause Knapp in her job prospects. Magistrate Erin O’Donnell said while the injuries were minor, it did not take away from the seriousness of the incident. “I completely understand that (the infidelity) would have been very upsetting to hear ... when you saw her you exploded effectively,” she said. “You couldn’t put those feelings to one side to deal with them in a regulated manner, you used violence. “In that manner you’re almost cliche because the number of cases that exists in criminal law of people who discover infidelity and react violently is quite numerous.” Given her lack of criminal record and steps already taken to seek counselling, Ms O’Donnell sentenced Knapp to an eight-month community-based order to ensure further counselling and anger management programs. However, the spent conviction application was rejected.