Malissa Anne Stevenson, 53, also spat in the face of a man who tried to intervene in the fracas.
Stevenson appeared in the Dunedin District Court yesterday after earlier pleading guilty to injuring with reckless disregard and assault.
The court heard that on February 6, the 51-year-old victim, who Stevenson knew, was at a friend’s house.
Stevenson arrived and got into an altercation with the homeowner.
The victim tried to leave, but the defendant stood in her way, blocking the exit, then punched her in the face so hard it caused her to fall to the floor.
The woman tried to protect herself, but Stevenson continued delivering blows and kicked her head while she was on the floor.
The victim’s son, a 30-year-old man, came to the house and saw blood all over his mother’s face.
He attempted to separate the two women, but Stevenson pushed him, squeezed her hand around his neck and spat in his face before leaving the house.
The woman was taken to hospital in an ambulance.
Her nose was broken, and she required four stitches around her eye.
Yesterday, counsel Noel Rayner told the court his client was "involved in a ministry" and was training to achieve her goal of becoming a pastor.
The court heard she was also "actively involved" with a marae.
Mr Rayner said Stevenson had been "extremely forthright and remorseful right from the beginning".
The defendant said the assault came after the victim made a comment about her father, who had recently died.
Judge Hermann Retzlaff noted Stevenson had a criminal history, but it was not recent.
He said the injuries to the victims were "not insignificant" and the assault was persistent.
Judge Retzlaff sentenced Stevenson to seven months’ home detention.
felicity.dear@odt.co.nz , Court reporter
