Sydney, July 30: An Australian woman has taken her ex-husband to court for giving their 16-year-old daughter permission to get a tattoo. Bradley Victory, 45, pleaded not guilty in Picton Local Court outside Sydney on Wednesday to charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and wounding a person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The charges stem from an ankle tattoo of a dreamcatcher, a symbol with Native American origins, The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on Thursday. His ex-wife Nadene Rees brought the private prosecution. Private individuals can prosecute others in Australian courts in circumstances in which police won't lay charges.

Their daughter, Casey Victory, who has turned 17 since she got the tattoo last New Year's Eve, supported her father in court.

"It's horrible ... Dad's done nothing wrong and it was my choice to get it done," she told the newspaper. "Dad ummed and aahed about it ... Dad's like: 'I'm not going to be hypocritical' — he's got tattoos," she added.

Under New South Wales state law, it is illegal to tattoo anyone under the age of 18 without written permission from a parent or guardian. Defence lawyer Carolyn Shiels told the court in a letter that the daughter had had no contact with her mother in three years. Shiels confirmed the father had signed the consent form.

Court documents show that parental responsibility for the daughter is shared equally between the mother, father and the father's parents. The case will return to court in September. Bradley Victory told the newspaper outside court: "She was 16, she got a tattoo and her mother doesn't want her to have a tattoo."

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