A man "growled like a dog" and attempted to bite his partner's face during a sustained attack on her, Tauranga District Court was told today.
Tiare Eru, 27, orchard worker, blamed his behaviour on "sheer accumulation of domestic stress," his lawyer Tony Balme told Judge Christopher Harding.
He snapped on July 10, the day before he was to face sentencing for burglary.
Pleading guilty today to a new charge of assault with intent to injure, Eru was jailed for a total of 18 months - a year for the burglary and an extra six months for what the judge described as "a serious domestic assault, aggravated by you being on bail at the time".
Police prosecutor Sergeant Roy Blomkamp said Eru left his partner's Mt Maunganui address about 11am and returned "aggressive" a minute later.
He bailed the young woman up in the kitchen, kicking her leg and yelling at her to "sort things out for tomorrow."
Eru then ordered her to go to the bedroom because he did not want to see her crying.
The defendant followed his partner, grabbing her around the throat and squeezing for up to a minute.
She left the room with their baby son and went back to the kitchen, where Eru grabbed her face by the cheeks and growled like a dog, said Mr Blomkamp.
She asked if he wanted his son to "see this" and told him to pack up his property.
The defendant screamed abuse and insults, then yelled at her to put on a party dress. When she refused he punched the victim, splitting her lip, and threatened to stab her.
Terrified, the woman ran to a neighbour's place and called police.
Mr Balme said Eru was remorseful and denied he would have actually bitten his partner. The punch which split her lip was "a jab from him which was not intended to land, but he miscalculated."
With his family in court supporting him, Eru had a lot going for him when he got out of prison, the lawyer said.
"He has to make better choices."
The earlier charges of being unlawfully in a building and possessing instruments for burglary dated back to March 4 when Eru, dressed in black and armed with a crowbar and a torch, climbed onto the roof of a Tauranga mid-city nightclub while an associate kept watch.
They were filmed on closed circuit television and arrested.
Judge Harding said Eru had a huge list of prior court appearances for burglary. As for the assault on his partner, it was not surprising that she was frightened of his aggression and unpredictability.
The judge ordered psychological assessment and treatment as directed after Eru's release from jail.
