Angela Marie McKeagg pleads guilty to pepper spraying a woman following ‘dispute’ about the death of her dog

A Busselton woman has pleaded guilty to pepper spraying a woman who she had ongoing disputes with after the death of her family dog. Angela Marie McKeagg appeared in Busselton Magistrates Court on January 11 and pleaded guilty to charges of common assault and causing poison to be administered. On August 21 last year, the accused was at Busselton central shopping centre when she spotted a woman who she had known for two years and had ongoing disagreements with. McKeagg started a verbal altercation with the woman which moved into the pharmacy inside the shopping centre. CCTV of the pharmacy caught footage of McKeagg walking into the pharmacy and pepper spraying the victim within 30cm of her face. The court was told the victim suffered extreme burning symptoms and staff and customers inside the pharmacy reported mild burning and itching of the eyes. McKeagg was taken into custody on October 11 but released on bail. Duty lawyer Alex Collins told the court the accused had bought the pepper spray to protect her family after it was alleged the victim’s son was “responsible” for the death of their dog. However, Magistrate Belinda Coleman refused to accept Mr Collins’ reasoning and said the offence was a “deliberate and targeted attack.” “I am not going to accept a war of words led to pulling out pepper spray,” she said. Magistrate Coleman told the court she was aware of previous public attacks on the victim’s family, including a silo in Busselton graffitied with the word “murderer” and ongoing Facebook disputes in the Busselton Community Notice page. The allegation of the death of the dog has been denied by the victim and Facebook posts have since been removed. Mr Collins requested McKeagg be sentenced by a different magistrate, due to “prejudice” Ms Coleman may carry being aware of the Facebook posts. Ms Coleman disagreed she carried any prejudice in relation to the accused’s offences, however agreed she would arrange a different magistrate to carry out the sentencing. McKeagg will reappear in Busselton Magistrates Court on March 8 for sentencing.