Latest news with #RainaCruise
Daily Mail
10-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Pregnant cop who had clumps of hair ripped from her scalp by a notorious anti-vaxxer breaks her silence
A female police officer who had hair torn from her scalp by an anti-vaxxer while she was 10 weeks pregnant has broken her silence over the horrific attack. South Australian Senior Constable Anthea Beck told 9News how Raina Cruise attacked without warning outside the Exeter Hotel in October 2021. 'She just reached out, knocked the hat off my head, grabbed a handful of hair and just dropped to the ground,' she said. Cruise, who describes herself as a naturopath and homeopath, had earlier assaulted two security guards at the pub on Adelaide 's Rundle Street. The mother-of-four was heavily intoxicated and had attended a freedom rally earlier in the day but was booted from the venue over a row about mask mandates. She admitted to grabbing one security guard by the windpipe and punching him in the throat. She punched the other security guard around the head. Cruise and two men she left the pub with were stopped by Beck and another police officer tasked with investigating the assaults on the security guards. Prosecutors said Cruise compared the police to Nazi Germany before she 'latched onto Constable Beck' and dragged her to the ground. The entire incident was captured on officers' bodycam footage. A court was told Cruise yanked at Constable Beck's hair and smashed the cop's head on the pavement as she yelled: 'I will smash you one-on-one, b***h.' Beck initially worried the the attack might have impacted her unborn child. The anti-vax mum-of-four initially avoided jail and was given a two-year suspended sentence after she was found guilty of the assault. The Police Association asked the attorney-general to appeal and earlier this month Cruise was re-sentenced and handed three years and nine months behind bars. 'The suspended sentence was not in line with societal expectations of what happens when you assault police,' Beck said. Beck said she felt 'relief and satisfaction' knowing Cruise was behind bars and said it sent a message to the community 'that if you assault an emergency worker, that you can expect a custodial sentence'. She described her job as a policewoman as an 'an ongoing journey'. 'Being a police officer obviously has its ups and downs, and this is just a down of (an) otherwise very fulfilling career,' she said.
ABC News
02-06-2025
- General
- ABC News
Failed senate candidate Raina Cruise has suspended sentence overturned for Adelaide CBD assault
An anti-vaccine protester who assaulted a pregnant police officer and two security guards in October 2021, has been taken into custody after her suspended sentence was overturned on appeal. Raina Cruise, 42, was jailed on Monday after the South Australia's Court of Appeal found there was good reason to set aside the three-year suspended sentence and good behaviour bond handed to her in December last year. Instead, it ordered her to serve an immediate term of imprisonment for three years, nine months and two weeks. She will be eligible to apply for parole in two years. Upon hearing the new sentence, Cruise asked to say goodbye to her family, but was told she could not leave the dock. "See ya darling, keep the plants watered and the dog. Love you," she said to her daughter. Cruise previously pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault and was found guilty of intentionally causing harm to Constable Anthea Beck. The court preciously heard Cruise became aggressive to security guards at a Rundle Street hotel as the two men she was with were ejected from the venue. Cruise and the two men left the venue and were stopped by Constable Beck and another officer who were investigating the assault of the security guards. "During this conversation, a sudden violent altercation ensued between you and Constable Beck, which ultimately led to you grabbing her and dragging her to the ground," Judge Joanne Deuter said. Constable Beck suffered multiple injuries during the altercation, including two patches of her hair being torn from her scalp. In a victim impact statement previously delivered to the court, Constable Beck revealed she had been pregnant at the time of the assault. "When you kicked me, you kicked my baby," she said. There were widespread demands for legislation changes following her initial sentence last year, with the government saying it would consider them. "I think many in the community will be very supportive of the decision to appeal the sentence that was handed down. That appeal will be heard early next year," Attorney-General Kyam Maher said. Outside court on Monday, defence lawyer Nick Vadasz, for Cruise, said his client was shocked by today's outcome.
