An Indigenous Pilbara community and health figure accepted a plea deal from prosecutors in the Karratha Courthouse on Wednesday for breaches of a Family Violence Restraining Order (FVRO).
Jolleen Regina Hicks, a Ngarluma Yindjibarndi woman who currently owns several Indigenous consultation and training businesses and is a long-term board member and director at important regional Indigenous health organisations, had last year indicated she would defend the charges, which included an alleged threat made in front of lawyers.
Prosecutors on Wednesday had three witnesses to call, and audio and video footage of the threat in front of solicitors, barristers and lawyers.
One of those lawyers, as well as the former wife of Ms Hicks and another witness, were not required to give evidence after Ms Hicks entered a guilty plea as soon as the matter was called to be heard.
She received a suspended fine as part of the plea deal, which she won't be required to pay unless she breaches the FVRO again.
After Wednesday's outcome, Ms Hicks' former wife said Ms Hicks had knowingly breached a Family Violence Restraining Order several times that was in place to protect her (the former partner) and her four children, all aged under seven.
"Her guilty plea at the trial today confirms that she has no regard for the legal boundaries meant to ensure our safety," she (the former partner) told National Indigenous Times.
"This was not a misunderstanding or a mistake—it was a deliberate violation of a court order intended to intimidate and cause fear.
"Her actions are part of a pattern of threatening and intimidatory behaviour, and my only hope is that no one else has to experience the fear and distress she has caused.
"I also hope she takes responsibility for her actions instead of minimising them, and understands that these violations have real consequences for the people she harms."
One FVRO offence related to an email Ms Hicks sent to her former wife, requesting contact with their child, and a text message to her former wife sent from a third party.
The second offence arose from comments Ms Hicks made during family court proceedings, with evidence she was overheard and recorded on camera saying "I'm gonna get you, I'm gonna get you c**t".
Since returning to Roebourne in 2012, Ms Hicks has been an active community figure, appointed board director and deputy chair at Mawarnkarra Health Service, before co-founding Pilbara Aboriginal Health Alliance, where she also was appointed as a member director in 2020.
Ms Hicks is the owner of Aboriginal Insights - a cultural awareness training business which runs workshops on respect and relationships.
It is understood Ms Hicks had intended to represent herself on Wednesday, after doing the same during November's hearing, where she said her lack of legal experience contributed to her misunderstanding the FVRO conditions. She had also expressed frustration at the complexity of navigating the legal system, and that she intended to present reduced circumstances at trial to explain her actions.
Ms Hicks graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Law in 2006 and completed a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice at the University of New South Wales in 2007. According to the Legal Practice Board of Western Australia, Ms Hicks does not hold a Practicing Certificate in this state.
