A Mosgiel man who bit a woman and head-butted her while she was holding her infant child says he has reached a “turning point" in his life.
Jamie Lee Kearns (30) had been to jail in the past for his violent tendencies, the Dunedin District Court heard yesterday, but now said he was desperate for help.
He pleaded guilty to assault in a family relationship, threatening to kill and wilful damage, and had spent nearly three months behind bars awaiting sentencing, counsel Deborah Henderson said.
Kearns went to the home of the victim late on December 30 last year and immediately launched into a tirade against her.
While the woman held her infant child, the drunken defendant approached and bit her lips, causing them to bleed.
He then head-butted her in the left eye, a police summary said.
"You didn’t stop. The assault continued," Judge Emma Smith said.
Kearns pushed the victim on to the bed and "grabbed her in a headlock while yelling and ranting aggressively".
He had his arm firmly around her throat but it did not impede her breathing, court documents said.
Before the woman fled the scene with her child, the defendant told her he would kill her.
In the early hours of the following morning, Kearns was back at the house and sent a message to the victim telling her to open the door.
When it went unanswered, he smashed his way inside the now empty property where police found him.
Kearns admitted "grabbing" the victim but nothing more.
"It was a sustained and repeated attack on her, in her home where she was entitled to be safe, where a young child was present," said the judge, who noted there had been other police callouts to the address.
Ms Henderson said her client had suffered a traumatic brain injury when someone threw a brick at him, and had struggled to deal with anxiety and depression since.
He had stopped taking his medication at the time of the assault but she said he had resumed while in prison, with positive results.
Ms Henderson argued Kearns should be sentenced to intensive supervision, a sentence he had received in the past — and breached.
Judge Smith acknowledged it was "a very hard ask" given the defendant’s history but said she was willing to give him a chance.
She imposed 18 months’ intensive supervision and 300 hours’ community work.
A protection order was imposed in favour of the victim.
