A man who bit his 2-month-old baby has been reprimanded by a judge who called the offending ‘‘outrageous’’.
Anthony Nicholas Williams-Winders, 22, appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday and pleaded guilty to assaulting a child.
The court heard that on December 15, the man was at a Marlborough address supervising his daughter, who was 2 months and 3 weeks old.
The baby began to cry, Williams-Winders took her outside and sat down with the baby on his lap which soothed her.
While holding her on his lap, Williams-Winders bit her shoulder causing her to scream.
When the baby’s mother came home she saw the bite mark on her daughter and confronted the defendant about it.
Williams-Winders told police he bit the baby after having a ‘‘momentary loss of consciousness’’ before realising what he had done wrong.
The court heard the defendant had no criminal history.
Judge Michael Turner scolded the defendant, ‘‘you bit a 2-month-old child — outrageous’’.
‘‘Go online, find out how many children are killed by their parents in this country,’’ he said.
Williams-Winders told the judge was ‘‘not in the right frame of mind’’ at the time and was struggling with his mental health.
The defendant was remanded on bail until his sentencing next month.
