A Stirling man abused his former partner then beat her brother with a tennis racquet, inflicting a severe head injury, a court has heard.
Only weeks earlier, 23-year-old Kyle Matene Beck had been sentenced to 12 months' intensive supervision and 100 hours' community work for breaching a protection order by damaging his ex-girlfriend's car.
On October 16, he again disregarded the court-imposed order.
After repeated demands that she return his property, she had gone to her brother's Balclutha home to hide.
When Beck found out where she was, he went to the house and sent a message to say he was outside.
The woman, with her four children and brother, left the property, planning to drive away.
Beck approached the vehicle still ranting about his belongings but was met by the brother, who had brought a tennis racquet to ward him off.
A fight started during which the defendant wrestled the racquet from the man.
He knocked him to the ground and struck him at least twice using the edge of the racquet.
Beck also kicked the man several times in the chest as he lay there, unable to defend himself.
The victim was suffering from the effects of a previous head injury at the time, which he said Beck was aware of.
Because of the severity of the blows, he suffered a seizure and was taken to Dunedin Hospital.
Further seizures occurred on the way, the Dunedin District Court heard.
''This was unacceptable, extreme violence,'' Judge Michael Crosbie said.
The victim had been preparing to return to work at the time and described Beck's attack as a ''huge setback''.
His constant state of fatigue afterwards also meant he was unable to help his sister look after her children as he had previously been doing.
However, the court heard the seizures had ceased and the man was recovering.
Beck's father Nigel died when a truck he was driving in January last year crashed.
An investigation into the incident found the concrete panels on the vehicle had been incorrectly secured and the load was unbalanced.
Employer Calder Stewart was fined more than $340,000 and paid the family $145,000 reparation.
The court heard Beck and his father had a complex relationship and his untimely death had brought to the surface a lot of unresolved issues.
Judge Crosbie said the defendant had been ''acting in a possessive, angry, overbearing manner'' and had no right to even contact his former partner because of the protection order.
But he highlighted an extremely positive Probation report which heaped praise on Beck for the way he had completed his last sentence and devoted himself to his rehabilitation.
It was that, the judge said, that saved him from imprisonment.
Beck was sentenced to 11 months' home detention and ordered to pay the victim $5000.
He will serve the sentence in Canterbury, where he is living with his brother.
