Woman who bit her boyfriend and smashed bottle over his head in car row convicted

Tayla Iris Anne Padgett, 19, appeared in the Dunedin District Court after admitting charges of assault and assault with a weapon.

A relationship reached a violent denouement when a teenager bit her boyfriend and then smashed a bottle over his head, a court has heard.

Tayla Iris Anne Padgett, 19, appeared in the Dunedin District Court last week after admitting charges of assault and assault with a weapon.

Judge Michael Crosbie sentenced her to four months home detention, noting she showed little remorse about the attack.

Padgett went to her then-partner's house in the early hours of May 25 last year.

Defence counsel Chris Lynch said the visit was simply to retrieve her vehicle, but because the man had done some work on it, he told the defendant she owed him money.

After an argument, Padgett agreed he could take her to an ATM.

They never got there.

As the verbal spat continued on the drive, Padgett threw a bottle of lemonade in the victim's face.

He stopped, let her out and then drove home.

Padgett was picked up by a friend and followed him.

The vocal disagreements between the couple ramped up further back at the victim's home.

During the quarrel, Padgett bent down and bit the man on his arm.

He responded by pushing her over.

The defendant retrieved a glass bottle from a nearby vehicle and, after a spell of "pushing and shoving'', whacked him over the head.

The victim, in a written statement, said Padgett's chomp on his arm had broken the skin and left visible marks for days following.

He said he was threatened on social media and was taking anti-depressants as a result of anxiety the incident had caused.

Padgett, the man said, was "constantly manipulative and tried to control everything''.

Defence counsel Chris Lynch described the episode as "a two-way altercation'', but Judge Crosbie reminded the defendant she was the only one in the dock.

Padgett, he said, had previous convictions for violence and was serving a sentence of intensive supervision and community work at the time of the most recent offending.

Any further violence would likely see her imprisoned, the judge said.

As well as the home-detention term, she was ordered to pay the victim $100.