A Dunedin man says he is disgusted with himself after repeatedly jabbing a woman in her surgery wound in what a judge called a "gross, vile and nasty assault".
Brett Thomas Fallows, 39, appeared before Judge Emma Smith this week in the Dunedin District Court after contravening a protection order and accosting a woman who had just had her gallbladder removed.
At 10.30am on March 7, the man entered the woman’s house hoping to talk to her.
Fallows followed her, picking up a water bottle and attempting to squirt her with it.
He then jumped on top of her as she lay on the bed, pushing his knee into her body so she could not move.
The victim had numerous incision points on her stomach and was supposed to be on bed rest –— only being discharged from hospital two days prior to the attack.
A struggle ensued and Fallows used his fingers to forcefully jab her in the abdomen multiple times.
Terrified, the woman managed to call police.
She suffered red marks and was in a lot of pain following the incident, court documents said.
"What you did that night was extraordinary.
"You were in a rage," Judge Smith said.
"You attacked her in a petulant and wholly inappropriate way ...
"It was a gross, vile and nasty assault by you."
During a restorative justice meeting the man had recognised he had "behaved so bad and so violently", the court heard.
"You are clearly disgusted with yourself as you should have been," the judge said.
Counsel John Westgate said his client had been attending a Stopping Violence course and was focused on being a good father.
Fallows was sentenced to eight months’ supervision and ordered to pay the woman $1500.
