A man who bit his 2-month old daughter is "at a loss" to explain why he did it, a court has heard.
Anthony Nicholas Williams-Winders, 22, appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday after earlier pleading guilty to assaulting a child.
The court heard that on December 15, the man was at a Marlborough address supervising his daughter, who was 2 months and 3 weeks old.
The baby began to cry, Williams-Winders took her outside and sat down with the baby on his lap, which soothed her.
While holding her on his lap, Williams-Winders bit her shoulder, causing her to scream.
When the baby’s mother came home she saw the bite mark on her daughter and confronted the defendant about it.
Williams-Winders told police he bit the baby after having a "momentary loss of consciousness" before realising what he had done wrong.
The court heard the defendant had no criminal history.
Counsel Andy Belcher said his client was taking steps to work on himself, including plans to attend a parenting course.
"I still don’t quite understand what motivated him to offend like this," Mr Belcher said.
"My guess ... is that it’s immaturity."
Judge David Robinson was also puzzled by the assault.
"The circumstances are unique, and indeed far removed from anything that I’ve seen before," the judge said.
"You are at a loss to explain what you did ... and really I think we all are."
Williams-Winders said in his pre-sentence report he had many pressures within the household at the time.
Judge Robinson said the defendant seemed remorseful and the incident seemed "isolated".
"This was a random offence against a young child," he said.
In a statement to the court, the child’s mother expressed her "shock, anger and confusion".
Judge Robinson sentenced Williams-Winders to 75 hours’ community work and 12 months’ supervision.
"Let this be a blip," the judge said.
