A 5-year-old girl witnessed her father drunkenly assaulting her mother, a court has heard.
Thomas Bernard Fulton, 35, appeared in the Invercargill District Court this week after pleading guilty to one charge of assault with intent to injure, one of assault in a family relationship and one of threatening to kill.
On December 22, the defendant was drinking and his wife asked him to come home to help put their children to bed.
She told him not to come home that night and locked the doors of the house.
But Fulton climbed through a window and confronted the victim in front of their two young children.
He yelled at the woman and pushed her backwards down the hallway into their bedroom.
The defendant threatened to chop her head off.
She tried to leave but Fulton pushed her on to the bed, straddled her and squeezed her throat with his hand.
When she tried to escape, he squeezed her throat again.
She punched at the defendant, attempting to stop the assault, and in retaliation he hit her in the face.
He said that was "a consequence of her own actions".
Their 5-year-old daughter opened the bedroom door and saw the beating.
She cried, which distracted Fulton, allowing the victim to get away.
After recounting the events, Judge Russell Walker said: "I hope that was as uncomfortable to hear as it was to read, Mr Fulton.
"The level of violence ... was appalling," the judge said.
The court heard the man had a violent history, including assaults on the same victim and an offence that landed him in prison.
"History suggests you can be a risk to people you are in a relationship with, and children," Judge Walker said.
Fulton told the court that since the attack he had received rehabilitation and medication.
The victim said she was "gutted" the children had witnessed the attack.
"Our daughters were scared. One of them still talks about it," she said in a victim impact statement.
"I don’t want to re-victimise the victim, who clearly doesn’t want you to go to prison and wants all of you to move forward as a family," Judge Walker said.
"You told her ‘I’m sorry and I promise it will never happen again’. I’m going to hold you to that."
He sentenced Fulton to 15 months’ intensive supervision.
