After assaulting his partner, Richard Edward Pere Atkinson called the police on her.
The couple had been in an on-off relationship and were renting a house together in September last year, the Whanganui District Court heard on Tuesday.
They have two children together, aged 3 and 1 at the time.
Judge David Cameron said Atkinson "became angry" on September 18, saying he didn't trust the victim with a phone and that she didn't deserve one.
He punched the victim in the shoulder before pulling her ear and saying she was getting a "hiding" because she didn't listen, Judge Cameron said.