A brawl broke out at a Perth nail salon over the long weekend when two customers butted heads over Covid-19 rules.
Jill Sheehan alleged that she was verbally and physically attacked on Sunday after she asked a woman sitting next to her at the salon if she could wear a mask.
Masks are still mandatory indoors in Western Australia where state borders reopened in March after being closed for almost two years.
“I asked her if she‘d put her mask on, and she said ’who are you?’” Ms Sheehan, who is a mother of two, told Nine News.
“I’ll spit on you,” the teenager allegedly responded to the request.
“You spit on me and I’ll do you for assault,” Ms Sheehan responded. “And that was it. She just went for me.”
The violent altercation at Perth’s Wanneroo Shopping Centre was captured on video by shocked onlookers.
Ms Sheehan appears to try to de-escalate the situation, saying “all I did was ask you to put a mask on”.
The 19-year-old appears visibly agitated before she launches at Ms Sheehan, allegedly throwing punches at her face, shoving her and pulling at her long ponytail.
Salon staff swiftly called police as the incident moved from the salon and out into the shopping centre walkway.
The violence continued for a number of minutes.
Police say Ms Sheehan suffered a concussion, bruising, cuts, and chipped teeth as a result of the brawl.
She said it was important to her that she confront the woman about the Covid rule because of her health.
“I‘m immune compromised and I’ve got an immune compromised father with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,” she said.
Police arrested a 19-year-old woman following the attack and charged her with assault occasioning bodily harm.
The woman will appear in court in May.
