Frances Anne Starr: Charges dismissed over alleged domestic violence stabbing at Fitzgerald St abandoned hotel

Charges against a Meekatharra woman accused of stabbing her partner up to five times during a domestic dispute while they were squatting at the derelict Batavia Motor Inne hotel have been dropped. On December 12, 2022, Geraldton police attended the abandoned Fitzgerald Street hotel, which was once a popular makeshift camp for the homeless. Police found a 33-year-old man with stab wounds up to 10mm deep, which they said were inflicted by shard of a broken plate wielded by his partner Frances Anne Starr. The court was previously told an argument had broken out and Ms Starr’s partner dragged her across the ground by her hair. She allegedly used a shard of a broken plate to stab her partner in the head, chest and back four to five times. The 30-year-old woman pleaded not guilty to aggravated unlawful wounding and breaching bail in March last year. A trial hearing was set to go ahead in the Geraldton Magistrates Court on Tuesday, but neither party showed up to court. As a result, the charges were dismissed and court costs were awarded. The homeless couple had been squatting at the abandoned hotel before most of the eyesore was demolished last year. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)13 YARN (13 92 76)