An Oamaru man has been forced to reflect on his "shameful” behaviour after being confronted with audio recordings of his violence.
Sidney Ian Telke, 21, appeared in the Oamaru District Court this week after what Judge David Robinson called "repeated family violence in the presence of a child” — leading to the fracturing of a family unit.
A protection order was served on him on February 2 last year, but 10 months later the defendant resumed contact with the victim.
On January 11, a member of the public alerted police when they witnessed the man grabbing the victim by the hair and manhandling her into the foot-well of a vehicle.
Court documents said Telke had attacked the woman multiple times, hitting her in the face repeatedly and shoving her head into a rimu fixture, causing her to lose consciousness in front of her two children.
The woman’s children became entangled in the violence, calling police after their mother sustained a split lip while the defendant was armed with a BB gun.
In April, Telke took it to new extremes when he punched the woman’s 12-year-old in the arm.
Counsel Ngaire Alexander said by the time her client was at the height of his offending "he had a serious methamphetamine addiction going on” and claimed to have no recollection of his violent behaviour.
Telke was able to listen to audio recordings of his aggressive behaviour that had been provided to police.
"The audio recording shows him quite significantly out of control."
It gave him the opportunity to see for himself the harm he caused, Mrs Alexander said.
The woman sustained various bruises, swelling, cuts and a substantial haematoma to her eye that may require surgery, the court heard.
She was traumatised by the repeated assaults and had since been prescribed anti-anxiety medication.
"This has had a big impact on her in terms of her ability to parent her kids,” the judge said.
"I hope you got a short sharp shock of listening to the audio of you being out of control.
"The impact on the kids being exposed to the violence ... that should resonate with you given your own upbringing.”
Reports made for "stark reading”, shedding light on Telke’s "troubling” past, the court heard.
"His father was incarcerated when he was young; he was exposed regularly to violence ... It was a chaotic household,” Mrs Alexander said.
"At a very young age he was first introduced to alcohol by way of reward of doing a good job. Even more concerning is at the age of 16, a parental authority introduced him to methamphetamine.”
Judge Robinson acknowledged the man’s difficulties but said he "can’t place weight on self-induced intoxication”.
The judge said Telke was "committed to moving on” from his turbulent past and had demonstrated shame, remorse and insight into his offending.
Since his offending he had relocated, abstained from substances and engaged with prosocial supports, the court heard.
"History can’t be allowed to repeat itself ... You need to take real steps to ensure you understand what makes you tick and makes you fly off the handle."
Telke was convicted of multiple family violence charges, including assaulting a child, and was sentenced to five months’ community detention, 80 hours’ community work and 12 months’ supervision.
