Home with four children, Che Jerimia Eltringham sat beside a 10-year-old, waved a knife at his neck and asked ''which one is first?''
The 25-year-old repeated the menacing words as the boy became increasingly distressed.
Despite the harrowing experience, the defendant's partner - who sat in the Dunedin District Court to support him at yesterday's sentencing hearing - claimed he was a good father.
Judge Michael Crosbie had a different take.
''I can't describe you as that. To wave a knife in front of your child and threaten them is appalling,'' he said.
''You should be ashamed.''
He said the woman's assessment of Eltringham was probably more indicative of her compassion than of his character.
The man had previously pleaded guilty to possessing a weapon and committing a threatening act.
The second offence was in December, about 18 months after the knife incident.
Eltringham's partner was home with her 11-month-old asleep upstairs.
The defendant ''in a rage'' climbed the stairs as the victim stood below him.
He kicked a large television at her which smashed into a wall at the bottom after the woman dodged it.
''Did it hit you?'' Eltringham asked aggressively.
Counsel Meg Scally said her client was dealing with emotional issues at the time of his first indiscretion.
They were magnified, she said, because Eltringham did not have any wider family support and had essentially grown up without role models.
The background to the stairwell episode was characterised by stress the defendant was undergoing with workplace bullying at the time.
He had subsequently taken a constructive dismissal case against his employer.
''It's hard to imagine a man with your criminal record being bullied,'' the judge said.
He traversed a history littered with domestic-violence convictions.
Eltringham had received almost every type of sentence the court could impose.
''You're contemplating doing something about your life. I only hope you get the message and get help before someone ends up seriously hurt, because that's what happens when weapons are present,'' Judge Crosbie said.
''You need to own your addiction issues, you need to own your propensity for violence and if you want, someday in the future, to be a good father, you're going to need to do a lot of hard work to get back to that position.''
Eltringham was jailed for 20 months and a protection order was granted in favour of his partner.
