A man had been drinking when he punched his partner in the head.
23-year-old Richard Oriwa Matthews pulled his partner backwards with his forearm around her neck and hit her on top of the head.
The victim told Matthews she was going to call the police.
"Ring them. I've done wrong. I know what I've done," Matthews said to her.
Matthews pleaded guilty to assault on a person in a family relationship and appeared in Whanganui District Court for sentencing.