A Russian woman who defended her partner with a wine battle against three men during a brawl aboard the Pacific Explorer has been cleared of all charges.
Tatiana Baladina, 38, and her partner were holidaying onboard P&O’s Pacific Explorer in February last year when he got into a scuffle with three men on a bucks party.
Video released today shows the three men and Ms Baladina’s partner fighting outside the bathroom onboard the ship.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYf7U9ZChtQ
It was claimed Ms Baladina’s partner pushed in line and snapped when he was confronted by the three men. The men then broke out in a scuffle, during which Ms Baladina produced a wine bottle from her handbag and hit Jake Russell, 22 over the head.
The video shows Mr Russell bleeding profusely from his head after Ms Baladina hit him.
The ship, which was on a three-night round trip was forced to turn back to Sydney following the brawl. They were detained in onboard cells during the journey.
Ms Baladina told police she was protecting her boyfriend and claimed: “I thought they were killing him”.
Her charges were dismissed on Monday and the magistrate ruled her actions were reasonable given that her partner was involved in a three on one scenario.
Four of the men who were on the buck’s trip were cleared of any wrongdoing but Brody Cooper from Western Sydney was found guilty of affray.
He was given a conditional release but no conviction was recorded.
