In a quiet neighbourhood where the most excitement usually comes from the local bingo night or the occasional garage sale, residents have been left in a state of shock and disgust.

A mystery woman has taken to defecating in the backyards of unsuspecting homeowners, leaving the community up in arms over her unsavoury actions.

The middle-aged woman's foul behaviour was exposed when an irate Sydney homeowner, fed up with finding human feces on their property, decided to take matters into their own hands.

After several unpleasant discoveries, the homeowner installed CCTV cameras to catch the perpetrator in the act.

This mystery woman has been shamed on social media after she was seen on camera defecating in a residential backyard. Credit: u/ziglush / Reddit

The footage revealed the mystery woman in a most compromising position, with her pants down, committing the act that would earn her the notorious nickname.

The homeowner's frustration was palpable as they posted a notice on a tree outside their home, pleading with the phantom pooper to cease her activities.

‘ATTENTION LADY?!’ the notice read.

'Please stop pooping in my backyard! My grandchildren play there! It's disgusting! This is not the first time! I have cameras everywhere because of you! So please stop!'

The community's outrage was further fueled when another resident shared the notice on social media, drawing attention to the bizarre and disturbing situation.

'Rather strange poster on a tree,' the caption read.

Social media users were quick to condemn the mystery woman with one user humorously suggesting she was a 'runner' caught out by nature's call during her morning jog.

'This is super common, wake up first thing get on the sneakers off for a run halfway along nature calls, and you pull over for a strategy s*** and then on your way again,’ one said.

'I honestly understand it as a one-off but more than that, you have to look at yourself and think “seriously?”' a second wrote.

‘What the f*** is wrong with people?! Seriously!' another added.

'Or at least think to bring dog poo bags. It's not like they're expensive. Heck, some parks give them out for free!' a fourth added.

The incident has drawn comparisons to other notorious cases, such as the 'Paddington Pooper' of 2019, where PR maven Roxy Jacenko shared CCTV footage of a woman defecating outside her office.

Similarly, in 2020, a jogger was caught on camera using a community garden as a toilet in Melbourne, and another note was left in Marrickville, Sydney, begging a mystery defecator to stop their unsanitary behaviour.

In New South Wales, public defecation is considered offensive behaviour under the Summary Offences Act 1988, with penalties that can include a $500 fine or even criminal charges, depending on the circumstances.

However, a NSW Police spokeswoman stated they would not be commenting on 'phantom poopers'.

Key Takeaways

• A neighbourhood is outraged after a woman was caught defecating in someone's backyard.
• The incident, which was captured on CCTV, led the homeowner to put up a notice pleading with the woman to stop, noting that children play in the area.
• Social media users have reacted strongly to the incident, with many expressing disgust and disbelief at the behaviour.
• Defecating in public is against the law in NSW and can result in a Criminal Infringement Notice and a $500 penalty, with potential for further charges depending on circumstances.

Have you ever encountered anything like this in your neighbourhood? How did you or your community respond? Share your experiences in the comments below.

 

[Still Ebby]

When ya gotta go....ya gotta go!!!

But please not in my garden l have enough of that with all the wild animals around.

 

[Veggiepatch]

What is the male equivalent of "Karen"?

"Nigel"?

In Australia, we should adopt "Shazza" or "Rhonda" as an alternative to "Karen".

 

[Littleboy8]

What is the male equivalent of "Karen"?

"Nigel"?

In Australia, we should adopt "Shazza" or "Rhonda" as an alternative to "Karen".

It’s actually “ken” I looked it up earlier when I researched “Karen”

 

[Kevin. A.]

There is no excuse for this sort of disgusting behavior why would you deliberately defecate in someone backyard leaving it up to the homeowner to clean up for you. If you cannot use your own facilities at home before you go out; then there are plenty of public facilities including fuel stops and shopping centers if the desperate need arises and you do find yourself away from your own home.

 

[Rosi Gordon]

Oh dear!

When someone does something outside "the norm", the "mental health" card gets tossed around.

Does your dog, who craps on the footpath, have "mental health issues" as well?

I agree, some people are just filthy pigs and not mentally deranged. When travelling through Europe we saw this in public parks between the bushes and in gardens and nobody seemed to care, maybe it's just common practice elsewhere.

 

[Kevin. A.]

Oh dear!

When someone does something outside "the norm", the "mental health" card gets tossed around.

Does your dog, who craps on the footpath, have "mental health issues" as well?

There is no excuse for going into someone's back yard and relieving yourself. I understand that we can all be caught short. However, the homeowner stated they have young children, and they play in the back garden. The homeowner does not need to be going around their own backyard checking to see if some inconsiderate individual has defecated in their back yard, before allowing the children to go out to play. As an adult if you cannot hold the urge to go (defecate) before you find an appropriate facility (public toilet) to relieve yourself then there is something wrong with you. No excuses this is disgusting behavior to say the least.

 

[Catherines]

Totally agree. Not long ago I challenged someone on Instagram for using this tactic to belittle someone else and guess what their reply to me was? “Get a life KAREN”!

Oh dear!

When someone does something outside "the norm", the "mental health" card gets tossed around.

Does your dog, who craps on the footpath, have "mental health issues" as well?

I don’t have a dog, Veggiepatch, but have had one very rude and disgusting person dump his/her dog’s faeces into my household rubbish bin. It had been emptied that morning but hadn’t been removed from the footpath because we had left home before the rubbish collection and returned late that evening.

What gave a walker with his/her dog the right to dump that in my bin??? If he/she passed my place on their way out or returning from the dog’s walk they could have taken that bag of faeces back home to their own bin. It was another week before the bin was emptied again and the stench was disgusting, to say the least. If I had caught the offender in the act I probably would have turned the bag over and smeared it’s disgusting contents on their clothing or may be into their face. People these days have no respect for other’s property - stealing, defecating, damaging, to name just a few - is now rife and something needs to be done with heavy penalties imposed.

 

[Catherines]

One deterrent might be to have a fence all the way round the property with high padlocked gates - but then again, why should that be a financial burden on the homeowner??? It will also keep the grandchildren and pets in.

 

[Littleboy8]

Oh dear!

When someone does something outside "the norm", the "mental health" card gets tossed around.

Does your dog, who craps on the footpath, have "mental health issues" as well?

Possibly but could also have evil intentions

 

[mOiOz]

Why we should stop calling people Karen​

We’re being bombarded with stories of Karens but we’ve got to stop calling women - or anyone - that. Here’s why,

Stop for a minute to consider the use of the name Karen.
Do you actually know who it’s describing? I’d say that you don’t.

In a world where things gain popularity on the internet with comments that go viral.
Now we hear, “she’s such a Karen” bandied about for everyone.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, Karen is being used to describe the anti-maskers who filmed themselves trying to defy lockdown orders by going into Bunnings stores without masks.

Seems that anyone who complains or berates someone is now know as a Karen.

The Karen meme, which has become so ubiquitous it's been used as a Halloween costume, burst on to the scene in the past couple of years to describe white women perceived as acting entitled in public.

Now, it's used as a moniker for any white woman who's thought to be acting inappropriately, rudely, or in an entitled manner.

"It's usually used as a pejorative for middle-aged white women.

Can you imagine if this was used to describe a black woman. All hell would break loose.

I say drop The Karen thing and leave all Karens in peace

I do agree... however...
Many common names have been used to describe other people. Unfortunately, it's usually in a negative manner, be it serious or in jest, they have been around a long time.

Hilda - someone or something as ugly
John, - a male client of prostitutes / or a Dear John letter
Chad - acting like the alpha male.
Kevin - in Germany - a simpleton/poor image
Emily - in old literature, any maid was called an Emily
Gay - speaks for itself!
Nancy - effeminate male
Romeo - playboy
Randy - horny (English)
Einstein - sarcasm for doing something stupid
Johnson, Woody, Peter, Dick - penis
Joe - average Joe
Simon - simple Simon
Mary Jane - Marijuana
Susan - Lazy Susan
and many more........so, GOOD LUCK!

PS: I ATTACHED THIS FYI

Green’s Dictionary of Slang​

Karen n.​

[the stereotyping of the given name as (upper-)middle-class (in US)]
(orig. US) an over-privileged (upper-)middle-class woman, stereotyped as invariably demanding to ‘see the manager’ when unhappy with service, e.g. in a supermarket, by a person of colour.

2018		Urban Dict. 13 Mar. karen typically never a name given to a baby but somehow karen always turns up asking to see the manager.
2020 UK		Guardian 13 Apr. ‘Karen’ is commonly used in the US to refer to a strident middle-class white woman who talks down to people of colour, usually in serving-staff positions.
2021 AUST		Betoota-isms 69: Karen [...] 1. An entitled, white middle-class woman displaying obnoxious behaviour in public, particularly towards retail employees 2. A pejorative term used to profile a deep-Gen-X or shallow-Boomer woman who carries a sense of entitlement beyond the scope of what is normal.
2022 USA		I. Fitzgerald Dirtbag, Massachusetts 129: The Karen (pronounced ka-ren, as opposed to the name of someone demanding to speak to your manager.

Jonathon Green 2025.

 

[Suzanne rose]

I do agree... however...
Many common names have been used to describe other people. Unfortunately, it's usually in a negative manner, be it serious or in jest, they have been around a long time.

Hilda - someone or something as ugly
John, - a male client of prostitutes / or a Dear John letter
Chad - acting like the alpha male.
Kevin - in Germany - a simpleton/poor image
Emily - in old literature, any maid was called an Emily
Gay - speaks for itself!
Nancy - effeminate male
Romeo - playboy
Randy - horny (English)
Einstein - sarcasm for doing something stupid
Johnson, Woody, Peter, Dick - penis
Joe - average Joe
Simon - simple Simon
Mary Jane - Marijuana
Susan - Lazy Susan
and many more........so, GOOD LUCK!

PS: I ATTACHED THIS FYI

Green’s Dictionary of Slang​

Karen n.​

[the stereotyping of the given name as (upper-)middle-class (in US)]
(orig. US) an over-privileged (upper-)middle-class woman, stereotyped as invariably demanding to ‘see the manager’ when unhappy with service, e.g. in a supermarket, by a person of colour.

2018		Urban Dict. 13 Mar. karen typically never a name given to a baby but somehow karen always turns up asking to see the manager.
2020 UK		Guardian 13 Apr. ‘Karen’ is commonly used in the US to refer to a strident middle-class white woman who talks down to people of colour, usually in serving-staff positions.
2021 AUST		Betoota-isms 69: Karen [...] 1. An entitled, white middle-class woman displaying obnoxious behaviour in public, particularly towards retail employees 2. A pejorative term used to profile a deep-Gen-X or shallow-Boomer woman who carries a sense of entitlement beyond the scope of what is normal.
2022 USA		I. Fitzgerald Dirtbag, Massachusetts 129: The Karen (pronounced ka-ren, as opposed to the name of someone demanding to speak to your manager.

Jonathon Green 2025.

I agree ,names have been used in different scenarios. My eldest son is John but we have never associated with prostitutes , I'm guessing because Americans are the ones who use the term.

My brother is Bob and my kids used to laugh when they heard the term ,'Bob's Your uncle ' meaning it's OK or All's good. It never bothered him
My sister is Karen yet how her name is used is very very degrading .

My name is Suzanne but people also call me Sue or Susan . It never bothered me with A lazy Susan .

All the names on the , people really dont associated the double name thing.
But everyone now associates Karen as a complaining woman .

 

[Mikeyboy2012]

Do it in your own loungeroom love. Leave other people's yards alone. You're not in the bush now.

Your parents must he so proud....unless you learned from them. OUCH!

 

[mOiOz]

I agree ,names have been used in different scenarios. My eldest son is John but we have never associated with prostitutes , I'm guessing because Americans are the ones who use the term.

My brother is Bob and my kids used to laugh when they heard the term ,'Bob's Your uncle ' meaning it's OK or All's good. It never bothered him
My sister is Karen yet how her name is used is very very degrading .

My name is Suzanne but people also call me Sue or Susan . It never bothered me with A lazy Susan .

All the names on the , people really dont associated the double name thing.
But everyone now associates Karen as a complaining woman .

I really don't think calling someone a Karen, is THAT degrading.
It's a lot like calling someone a princess — very similar meaning, yet people don't get that offended!

 

[Suzanne rose]

I must have lived under a rock all my life because I’ve never heard of this “Karen” saying until I came on SDC

I think it only started a couple of years ago

 

[Suzanne rose]

Oh dear!

When someone does something outside "the norm", the "mental health" card gets tossed around.

Does your dog, who craps on the footpath, have "mental health issues" as well?

I said she might have mental illness because who in their right mind would go into someone's backyard and crap.

 

[Annna]

Totally agree. Not long ago I challenged someone on Instagram for using this tactic to belittle someone else and guess what their reply to me was? “Get a life KAREN”!

Someone on the SDC forum called me a Karen.

 

[Veggiepatch]

I said she might have mental illness because who in their right mind would go into someone's backyard and crap.

Out of necessity.

I was at a bus stop and a few hundred metres from the nearest public toilet. No chance of making it but had no option but to crap myself.

No bus for me so I trudged home over three kilometres with the resultant brown liquid seeping down my shorts.

Embarrassed? Never!

 

[Annna]

Good morning! We sincerely apologise if the use of the name Karen has caused any offence.

We understand that names carry personal significance, and it was not our intention to single out or upset anyone with it. The term was used in the context of a widely recognised cultural reference, but we realise this may have come across as insensitive.

We have edited the article to remove the name and ensure it is more inclusive. We are committed to learning from this and being more mindful in the future.

We appreciate you bringing this to our attention and hope you continue to enjoy being part of our community. If you have any other concerns or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Thank you.

I had a recent experience with a regular commenter who deemed it appropriate to call me Karen.

This person persisted even after I noted my discomfort with the conduct (and explained this was my late mother's name).

 

[Penny4]

I think some 'poopers' are seeking a thrill with it. Hope she stops now her photo is plastered around the neighbourhood.

 

[Suzanne rose]

I think some 'poopers' are seeking a thrill with it. Hope she stops now her photo is plastered around the neighbourhood.

Imagine , she may even be a member on here.