By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A Pakenham East woman who bit off the fingertip of a friend during a drunken fight at a farmhouse barbecue has been given a three-year good behaviour bond.
Mansis Bandi, now 50, acted in “excessive self defence” during the violent exchange of punches and scratches at a farmhouse at Kelly Road, Cranbourne South in the early hours of Sunday 15 October 2017.
The victim’s bitten ring finger was later amputated.
Both intoxicated at the time, the victim was regarded as the initial aggressor who angrily approached Bandi seated in a car.
Then sparked a “dynamic” “fluid” and “physical” tussle on the ground with “little opportunity for calm thought”, Judge George Georgiou said in sentencing on 24 February
When Bandi bit down on the victim’s fingers, the victim screamed and called her to stop.
Bandi bit down hard and pulled on the ring finger, causing the victim “immense pain”. The tip of the finger was bitten off.
Bandi and her partner then drove home.
Defence lawyer Ashley Halphen had argued the victim was atop of Bandi, who had “nowhere to go” and so had to bite the victim.
Judge Georgiou was unable to find whether the victim was on top of Bandi at the time of the bite.
He noted Bandi hadn’t gone looking for a fight nor provoked the incident. Her self-defence however “overstepped the mark”.
“You believed your conduct was necessary in self defence but it was not a reasonable response in the circumstances as you perceived them.”
That same day, Bandi reported to Cranbourne police that she was a victim of an assault. Her partner claimed that he disarmed the victim, who had raised a metre-long piece of wood.
Bandi’s index finger was also bitten and became infected. She required several days in hospital. She also suffered bruises and scratches to her face, back and forearm.
The pair were lifelong friends, growing up in Papua New Guinea. The then-40-year-old victim regarded Bandi as a “sister”.
The relationship “soured” however when the victim disapproved Bandi’s new male partner.
After several legal delays, Bandi pleaded guilty in the Victorian County Court to recklessly causing serious injury.
Judge Georgiou noted Bandi’s remorse, “early” guilty plea and her “very good” rehabilitation prospects.
Bandi was previously convicted for a “not especially serious” assault in 2015 in which she punched a woman’s face from behind.
She had not offended since the most recent charge.
He noted Bandi’s long-term community contribution, leading a Wantok group that supported Papua New Guinean students and medical arrivals in Australia.
She was working as a packer in Maffra, to support her four children and a grandchild that she helps care for.
The trial’s delays had a punitive effect on Bandi, especially while she endured serious illness, Judge Georgiou noted.
A previous jury had been unable to agree on a verdict on more serious charges, and another trial aborted due to Covid-19.
Prosecutors sought a sentence of at least a community corrections order, while Bandi’s lawyer submitted for an adjourned undertaking or a fine.
Judge Georgiou said most offenders received jail or a CCO for the serious offence. But he weighed up the “unusual circumstances” and Bandi’s “low moral culpability”.
“In all the circumstances, I find this to be an exceptional case warranting the penalty proposed.”
Bandi was convicted and placed on a three-year adjourned undertaking.
It included a good behaviour bond and a $300 donation to a registered charity.
