When a Dunedin man punched his partner while she was in the toilet, it was the final straw.
She went to police and told them about Cameron Anthony Waudby’s attack; as well as two others he had committed early last year.
The 25-year-old appeared before the Dunedin District Court yesterday after pleading guilty to three counts of assaulting a female.
But when police confronted Waudby with the allegations he passed them off as "play fighting".
The first assault took place in February last year.
For an unspecified reason, the victim fell off the toilet after the pair had argued.She crawled back to the bedroom and was pulling herself on to the bed when Waudby grabbed her around the neck.
He held on for 10 seconds, the court heard, but his grip was not tight enough to impede her breathing.
The following month they were at their St Kilda home again when a row started.
Waudby’s partner, concerned for her safety, tried to call police.
"As she walked into the hallway the defendant grabbed her around the neck with his arm in a headlock and dragged her backwards," a police summary said.
The final act in their "toxic relationship" came at the end of August when the victim argued with the defendant and went to the toilet.
Waudby followed her in and punched her in the face.
The woman sustained a bleeding nose, bruising to her left eye and burst blood vessels around the socket.
Judge Kevin Phillips said the repeated targeting of the victim’s head was a seriously aggravating factor in Waudby’s offending.
"You have problems in a domestic setting if you’re not getting your own way," he said.
Defence counsel Jim Takas said his client had been behind bars for the last five months and the relationship with the victim was over.
A protection order had been granted by the court in her favour.
Waudby was jailed for 15 months.
Judge Phillips said his past record showed he would not comply with a community-based sentence.
