Mum, teen foster kids violently assaulted by woman during ‘cowardly’ home invasion sparked by bullying row

A teen violently assaulted a mum and her three teenager foster children after smashing her way into their home with three others, all over a school bullying row, a court has been told. Emilly Kerry-Ann Melyssa Cameron was among four people who took part in the violent attack on the family in Zillmere, north of Brisbane, back in August 2023. The girls – who were aged between 14 and 15 – and their foster mum were punched, kicked, had their hair pulled and were menaced by a man with a huge machete after Cameron, 19, and her other co-accused broke through the front screen door of the home on the night of August 21 that year. Brisbane District Court on Thursday was told the home invasion was sparked by “retribution” over a bullying row allegedly between a relative of Cameron and the teenage victims. The man, who was facetiming Cameron’s relative during the ordeal, threatened to slit the girls’ throats if they didn’t apologise. “Your conduct was abhorrent, frankly it was cowardly and disgusting … in order to effectively exact retribution for what is really a benign point,” District Court Judge Dzenita Balic said. “It was not your business to involve yourself … to go to someone’s house, break in and assault everyone in the household.” Cameron pleaded guilty to seven charges, including burglary, wilful damage, stealing and four counts of assault occasioning bodily harm. The court was told one of the co-accused was carrying a large machete and wearing a balaclava while facetiming Cameron’s relative on his phone when the group broke into the home. Crown prosecutor Kate Droney said there had been an “altercation” between the relative and one of the foster children earlier in the day. Cameron punched one of the girls, 14, in the face after following her to the top bunk of her bed. She then joined her co-accused in pulling another girl’s hair and pushing her head into the table four times, resulting in her feeling dizzy and going in and out of consciousness. Cameron then grabbed the third girl’s hair, pushing her head into a wall and threatening to stomp on her head after requesting the girl’s phone and passcode. Ms Droney said the foster mother was also assaulted. “(The man) told all three of those child complainants to say sorry to (Cameron’s relative),” Ms Droney said. “There were threats … (one) threatened to slit the complainants’ throats if they didn’t say sorry and continued to cause problems to her family.” The court was told the group fled when they heard police sirens – Cameron taking one of the girl’s phones on the way. She was arrested at a motel room a few weeks later. No victim impact statements were provided by the family, Ms Droney said. The court was told one of the men had already been sentenced as a party to the offence while the female co-accused still had matters before the courts. “This was a frightening experience, especially for the three younger women,” Ms Droney said. “This was premeditated, violent home invasion with the combined force of four people … three children under 16 were gratuitously assaulted and exposed to violence against their family.” San-Joe Tan, Cameron’s barrister, acknowledged there was a level of premeditation to his client’s participation but told the court that she was “young and impressionable”. “She admits and acknowledges her behaviour was stupid and rash,” he said. Cameron’s insight was accompanied by remorse in her plea of guilty, along with undertaking alcohol, drug and anger management courses while in custody, Mr Tan said. The court was told Cameron grew up in a “fractured” household and ended up caring for her stepsiblings, missing out on much of school. Cameron received a head sentence of 2.5 years’ jail, with 350 days in pre-sentence custody declared as time served. She was handed a fixed parole release date but will remain in custody on other unrelated matters.