A woman accused of attacking a toddler will remain behind bars in a specialised mental health unit after she appeared court.
Dressed in a blue boiler suit, Pamila-Raye Jetta, 21, appeared in Perth Magistrates Court charged with assaulting a two-year-old girl as she was carried by her mother through Hawaiin’s Park Centre shopping mall at 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 issues and was ‘known’ to both Melaleuca and Bandyup women’s prisons, PerthNow reported.
The matter was stood down for a number of hours after Aboriginal Legal Services lawyer Karen Bamforth requested for her client to undergo a mental health assessment before the brief hearing.
Ms Bamforth asked Magistrate Sandra De Maio not to make a hospital order that would send Jetta to forensic hospital the Frankland Centre.
Instead, Ms Bamforth asked that her client receive more tailored treatment as part of a specialised program.
A mental health nurse who assessed Jetta told the court that the specialised unit was the more appropriate treatment facility.
The nurses added that the Frankland Centre, which has 30 beds, advised him they could not accommodate Jetta.
The nurse also told the court Jetta had complied with treatment when in prison before.
Ms De Maio granted the request and adjourned her matter until November for further legal advice.
The random attack allegedly took place at Park Centre on the Albany Highway in East Victoria Park in Perth’s south-east about 1.25pm on Tuesday.
Footage from the scene showed a woman walking up to the toddler being held in her mother’s arms.
Seconds later, she reached out and struck at the little girl before her mother quickly moved back.
The woman then fled the scene.
She was not known to the mother or the child.
WA Premier Roger Cook said on Wednesday he was pleased that 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.