Solomon Cadan Leamy Feenstra, 24, was sentenced in the Dunedin District Court this week after earlier pleading guilty to injuring by unlawful act, two charges of assault and two charges of trespass.
The court heard that on May 30, a mother had her 1-year-old son strapped into a pram.
They went to a cafe on George St, but were not able to enter with the pram.
The mother left it near the entrance while she ordered a coffee.
As she left, Feenstra grabbed the pram and began "violently shaking" it, a police summary said.
The mother yelled at the defendant to stop, but instead he pushed the pram over on to its side, causing the baby to fall head-first on to the footpath.
The mother yelled at Feenstra, but he walked away without any explanation for his actions.
The baby was taken to the doctor and had to be closely monitored due to concern he had suffered a head injury.
The defendant told police he did not remember the incident.
The assault charges stemmed from an incident on September 10 at Dunedin Hospital.
Security guards found Feenstra on the ninth floor and asked him if he was allowed to be there.
Feenstra responded by getting in the guard’s face and attempted to grab his arm multiple times.
More security staff were called to assist with removing the defendant from the building. He pushed the victim’s jaw and chin.
Counsel Meg Scally said her client had a dependency on alcohol and was "blacked out" when he shook the pram.
"He doesn’t behave like this when he’s not affected by alcohol," she said.
"He was horrified with his behaviour and was remorseful for the offending."
Feenstra had undertaken counselling and wrote an apology letter to the mother, she said.
Judge Michael Turner agreed the defendant had issues with alcohol, but highlighted the harm he caused to the baby and his mother.
"It’s unsurprising that your actions were very distressing to her," he said.
He sentenced Feenstra to 15 months’ imprisonment, with leave to apply for home detention if a bed at a residential rehabilitation facility became available.
