KEY POINTS:
A man who viciously beat his partner because she took too long coming back from the takeaway shop has been jailed for a year.
Christopher Basil Skudder, 44, a Te Puke forklift driver, pleaded guilty to one charge of injuring with intent to injure and was sentenced in Tauranga District Court this week.
The court was told that at about 10pm on June 8, when the woman returned to Skudder's caravan in Te Puke, he told her she was late and began punching her, breaking her false teeth and knocking her to the ground.
When his victim tried to stand up, Skudder put his foot on her throat and then stood on her chest, yelling at her that she was late and that he was worried about his car.
He then picked his partner up by her hair and threw her into the caravan, kicking her about the head and face as she lay on the floor, with one of the kicks splitting open the back of her scalp.
Skudder took his partner to Tauranga Hospital. The woman suffered a laceration to the back of her head, serious bruising to her face, neck and body and a broken right rib.
The woman told the doctor she had a fight with someone but the next night when Skudder returned to the hospital and became aggressive and intimidating towards hospital staff, they became suspicious about her injuries and called police.
His lawyer, Viv Winiata, said Skudder had serious alcohol and anger problems and a bad attitude towards woman.
Judge Louis Bidois told Skudder he would give him full credit for having taken his victim to the hospital and his acceptance of responsibility and expressions of remorse. But "absolutely nothing" justified this kind of vicious prolonged assault.
Skudder must undergo six months' supervision on his release from prison including attending a Living Without Violence course.
- NZPA
