Frances Anne Starr to stand trial in March next year over alleged stabbing of partner at Batavia Motor Inne

A Meekatharra woman accused of stabbing her partner during a domestic dispute at the derelict Batavia Motor Inne is set to stand trial next year. Frances Anne Starr appeared in Geraldton Magistrates Court on Wednesday for a trial allocation date on one charge of unlawful wounding over an alleged attack on her 33-year-old partner. The trial has been set down for one day and will take place on March 27, 2023. Ms Starr’s bail was extended in the same terms. Police allege the couple had been squatting at the abandoned hotel when an argument between them escalated, with her partner dragging Ms Starr along the ground by her hair. Ms Starr then allegedly used a shard of a broken plate to stab her partner in the head, back and chest up to five times. The 34-year-old woman previously had her bail conditions changed so that she could be with her partner and the victim of the alleged crime, Norman Gilbert.