A 33-year-old Eketahuna man who punched his ex-wife in the face has been convicted of assault.
In the Masterton District Court on Wednesday the farm worker's name was suppressed to protect his young son's identity.
Prosecutor Sergeant Jodie Lawrence said the man and his former wife had separated, and on February 6 the woman had gone to his address to pick up some of her belongings. They had got into an argument and she had slapped him. He had punched her upper left cheek.
Defence lawyer Louise Elder said when things had become heated the woman had assaulted the man first. "He has defended himself too strenuously," Ms Elder said. She said the man was hard working and that the incident seemed to be the result of the breakdown of a marriage. The man was attending a stopping violence programme.
Judge Tom Broadmore said he hoped the two, and their son, could go forward with their lives. He ordered the man to come up for sentence if called on. That means if the man re-offends within a year he may be called up to be sentenced on the assault charge.
