A woman accused of attacking a toddler will remain behind bars in a specialist mental health unit after appearing in court.
Dressed in a blue overall, Pamila-Raye Jetta, 21, showed up Perth Magistrates Court is accused of assaulting a two-year-old girl as she was carried by her mother through Hawaiin’s Park Center shopping center in East Victoria Park on Tuesday.
The alleged attack, which was captured on CCTV, left the little girl with facial injuries.
The court heard on Thursday that Jetta had a history of mental health problems and was ‘known’ to both Melaleuca and Bandyup women’s prisons. PerthNow reported.
The case was adjourned for several hours after Aboriginal Legal Services lawyer Karen Bamforth requested her client undergo a mental health assessment before the brief hearing.
Ms Bamforth asked Magistrate Sandra De Maio not to issue a hospital order that would send Jetta to the Frankland Center Forensic Hospital.
Instead, Ms Bamforth asked that her client receive more tailored treatment as part of a specialist programme.
A mental health nurse who assessed Jetta told the court the specialist unit was the most appropriate treatment facility.
Pamila-Raye Jetta, 21, appeared in the Perth Magistrates Court on Thursday charged with assaulting a two-year-old girl
The alleged incident happened on Tuesday at Hawaiin’s Park Center in East Victoria Park
The nurses added that the Frankland Center, which has 30 beds, told him they could not accommodate Jetta.
The nurse also told the court that Jetta had completed the treatment when she was previously in prison.
Ms De Maio granted the request and adjourned her case until November for further legal advice.
The random attack is said to have happened at Park Center on the Albany Highway in East Victoria Park in Perth’s south-east at around 1.25pm on Tuesday.
Footage from the scene showed a woman walking towards the toddler who was being held in her mother’s arms.
Pamila-Raye Jetta (pictured during her arrest) appeared in the Perth Magistrates Court on Thursday
Seconds later, she reached out and smacked the little girl before her mother quickly retreated.
The woman then fled the scene.
She was unknown to the mother and child.
WA Premier Roger Cook said on Wednesday he was pleased an arrest had been made.
“It must have been incredibly traumatic for the mother and potentially very serious injuries for the baby involved,” he said.