Melbourne beauty influencer’s extraordinary ‘self-defence’ explanation to police after alleged knife rampage over failed parcel return

A Melbourne beauty influencer has faced court charged with assault with a weapon, following an alleged incident involving a knife at her Armadale home.

Veronica Mauring, 36, appeared before Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday after being accused of chasing her boyfriend with a knife during a dispute on July 11 last year.

Court documents allege the argument began after Mauring became distressed that she could not return a parcel at the post office, before becoming further frustrated by her phone data having expired.

It is alleged that these frustrations led to Ms Mauring pursuing her boyfriend through their home while holding a knife.

Ms Mauring told police she had become upset about the undelivered parcel and her phone data issues, which had heightened her emotional state during the argument.

It is also alleged that Mauring lashed out at her flatmate when they tried to intervene and de-escalate the situation.

According to a witness statement, the flatmate attempted to persuade Mauring to put down the knife, but she allegedly lunged at them and narrowly missed.

The flatmate then called police after Mauring retreated to a bedroom to calm down.

Police arrived and took a statement from the flatmate, but Mauring’s partner declined to provide one.

Mauring, who had charges of making a threat to kill and a second count of assault with a weapon withdrawn, was subsequently arrested and taken to the police station for questioning.

She told police she had said she wanted to ‘f****** kill’ her partner.

‘First I went to Australia Post in Armadale to return some parcel. My phone, the data was off. I tried to call my partner because he has a hold of turning off and on my data,’ Mauring told police.

‘I returned home and started to whinge, my partner started to whinge at me and said, “You f***** c***,”‘ she continued.

‘I had this trauma… my anxiety level is just outrageous. So I got a knife, it’s not to stab him, just to defend myself, but when he started to heighten myself and be outrageous, I attempted to stab him but it wasn’t my intention to stab him.’

Mauring, who describes herself on social media as working in ‘beauty, cosmetic and personal care’, said she had ‘heightened emotions’ and was ‘literally frustrated that I didn’t get my parcel returned’.

‘My emotions were getting outrageous. It was my fault anyway but that’s part of my trauma. My friend told me to put the knife down and because I was already heightened I didn’t [put the knife down],’ she said.

‘I told them to get out [of] the room, I tried to calm myself down and that’s when they called the cops.

‘Every time [my partner] screams and yells… I can’t just do it anymore. I grabbed a knife to defend myself.

‘I’m very disappointed that instead of helping me, he’s just making it more frustrating and heightened.’

Police quizzed Mauring on whether she said anything to her flatmate while she wielded the knife.

‘I didn’t say anything to [the flatmate], he had nothing to do with it,’ Mauring told police.

Police also asked Mauring if she made any threats to her partner.

‘Yes, I think I said, “I want to f****** kill you,” yes,’ she responded.

Police also asked Mauring if she intended to kill her partner.

She answered: ‘No, I was just in the room, he’s the one always doing the childish acts to make me heightened.

‘He started to believe it because I don’t do that often [arm myself with a knife]. The first time I was just holding the knife. This is the second time I literally chased him because I was really frustrated and disappointed.’

Mauring also responded to her flatmate’s statement to police that she had said she was ‘ready to go to jail for killing you’.

‘I said that when he called me names, that’s true, but before that, I said to [my partner] that I’m going to kill you because he always heightens me and abuses me with my emotions,’ Mauring told police.

Investigators put it to Mauring that her flatmate had claimed they tried to step in to calm the situation, but that Mauring responded by lunging and attempting to slash them with the knife.

‘No, it’s not true, I put the knife behind me because I thought I might hurt everyone, it’s not to slash or stab him,’ Mauring replied.

‘Both of them are conniving. It was just self-defence, actually.’

Police informed Mauring that her flatmate, understood to be a trans woman, told investigators they were in fear and believed Mauring intended to kill them.

‘Trust me, I have nothing to do with her,’ Mauring said. ‘Every time me and [my partner] fight, she always interrupts and interferes.’

According to the flatmate’s witness statement, they feared Mauring was going to kill her partner.

‘I truly thought she was going to kill him,’ the flatmate told police. ‘She was really angry, she was really trying to stab him with the knife, he was very lucky.’

Mauring countered that she ‘really wasn’t going to stab him’.

‘He was trying to frustrate me more, I wasn’t really going to stab him, I didn’t do that,’ Mauring told police.

Mauring then demonstrated to police how she held the knife above her head.

‘It wasn’t like stab him and push the knife into him. I was just raising my hand with the knife.’

The court heard that Mauring, who has no prior convictions, is now seeing a psychologist and is expected to enter a guilty plea when she returns to court in November.