A woman had to consume her Christmas dinner through a straw after she was punched in the face in a pub by a man holding a glass in his hand.
Jamie Mathew Sutherland (40) appeared before Judge Russell Walker in the Queenstown District Court yesterday on a charge of disorderly behaviour likely to cause violence and injuring Ellis Fenton with reckless disregard at the Frankton Arms Tavern on October 8 last year.
Judge Walker said Ms Fenton was working as duty manager at the Frankton Arms Tavern when Sutherland entered about 3pm.
"You became verbally aggressive towards her and were asked to leave," Judge Walker said.
Sutherland then went to a water station and got himself a glass of water. He then muttered something about throwing a glass at somebody.
Ms Fenton then approached him and it was then Sutherland punched her while still holding the water glass in his hand.
In court yesterday Ms Fenton read out her victim impact statement, saying the impact of the punch resulted in one of her front teeth being driven into the roof of her mouth, cutting it so that it required stitches.
"From the force of being hit I also received whiplash."
She spent a day in Queenstown Hospital before travelling to Dunedin to get emergency dental surgery. Ms Fenton then spent a further six days in Queenstown Hospital after her wounds became infected, causing her face to swell with the infection spreading to her blood, she said.
As a result of the attack she could no longer work and exercise the way she used to. She was fearful and on high alert the whole time. She could no longer eat whole meals.
"Over the holiday period I had to eat my Christmas dinner through a straw," she said.
The initial not-guilty plea had an adverse affect, she said.
"Making me feel like I needed to prove he assaulted me."
Sutherland’s lawyer Bryony Shackell said her client had communicated remorse soon after he was arrested. She said Sutherland suffered from ADHD and Asperger’s.
"He doesn’t socially respond in ways that neuro-typical people may," she said.
It meant he could not read social situations and caused him to act impulsively.
Judge Walker said Sutherland’s offending was going to have a long-lasting impact.
"The thing that makes your offending worse was that it was a completely unprovoked and cowardly attack on a defenceless victim who was not expecting to be struck."
Judge Walker sentenced Sutherland to six months’ community detention and 12 months’ supervision and ordered him to pay $1000 to Ms Fenton by way of emotional harm reparation.
