IMAGES of a fight between Bathurst schoolgirls posted on YouTube will have to be withdrawn by order of Bathurst Local Court magistrate Jan Stevenson.
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The fight was discussed in Bathurst Children's Court on Monday, with the opposing parties involved in an apprehended violence order case not to be named or identified.
Ms Stevenson instructed a teenage girl to have video footage of a fight removed from the world wide web.
When the girl said she had not been responsible for posting the YouTube video, apparently taken with a mobile phone, Ms Stevenson said it would be up to her to find out who filmed the assault and have it immediately removed.
Ms Stevenson said the case would be further mentioned in six months, on Monday, July 5.
The video had to be erased by then and if there were no further problems between the parties, the case should be dismissed.
The schoolgirls appeared before Ms Stevenson, accompanied by their mothers, in the apprehended violence case which arose from recent incidents involving school-age teenage girls stalking, intimidating and harassing each other.
Solicitor Mick Madden, who represented the girl accused of posting the fight video on YouTube, told Ms Stevenson: “This is a case of ongoing harassment that’s not going to go away.”
Mr Madden said there had been complaints made against the girl he represented.
Ms Stevenson addressed Mr Madden’s client, saying: “You are to have no future dealings with [the other girl]. If you become involved, it will cause more problems.”
The magistrate told both girls and their mothers there was nothing she hated more than seeing young girls involved in fights that required the intervention of police and the court.
The girl blamed for posting the YouTube assault images said her mother could check who had been responsible. The person would be asked to remove it, the girl said.
She thought the video had been taken and given to a second person, who put it on YouTube.
“Do all you can to get it off YouTube,” Ms Stevenson said. “Take it off before it makes it worse and the whole thing blows up.”
The magistrate also stressed nothing should be posted on Facebook, saying if anything has been posted it should be taken off.
Ms Stevenson warned both mothers and daughters if the matter persists then “all of the girls in any way involved will come to court and be in very large trouble”.