8 months for vicious assault

An Masterton man who threatened to kill his partner and viciously assaulted her twice has been sentenced to eight months' jail.

Blair Nolan, 37, appeared in Masterton District Court for sentencing on the violence charges and also for twice breaching a protection order.

He was convicted of threatening his on-off partner about 5pm on March 20 after she confronted him about drinking alcohol all day while she had been at work. The incident took place 10 days after he had pushed her to the ground causing bruising.

A protection order had been in place since September 12, 2007 to protect his partner from the unemployed defendant. Prosecutor Sergeant Garry Wilson said just before the threat to kill, Nolan grabbed his partner by the arms and tried to drag her outside but others intervened and she got away.

Once outside Nolan followed her and threatened to kill her. He then followed her into the house and the woman, fearing for her safety, contacted police.

On August 31 about 2pm an argument started between Nolan and the woman at her address.

The woman and her daughter sought refuge in a bedroom. Nolan punched the woman three times in the head with a closed fist. While she was on the ground he spat in her face. The woman received a swollen and black eye during the attack.

Lawyer Ian Hard told Judge Ian Mill that Nolan had been in custody since September and said the time Nolan had already served was an appropriate punishment.

Judge Mill said the accused had a number of previous convictions and this was a "bad spate of offending". He said a probation report noted Nolan didn't appear to be sorry for his actions. A drug and alcohol report indicated that Nolan had a history of high-level abuse which had became worse.

"The report says you want to change but it also says you have anger management issues. It recommends imprisonment as the only viable option," Judge Mill said.