Movie-goer attacked in car park

A woman who smashed a teenage moviegoer in the face with a beer bottle could be sent to prison.

Christine Tynan, 32, was drinking beer in the car park beside Top Town Cinemas, in Blenheim, about 8.30pm on October 8.

A car entered the car park and Tynan became agitated by its headlights, a police summary said.

She went over to the car and demanded the couple inside roll down the window.

Tynan did not know the teenage couple, who were on their way to watch a movie at the cinema, the summary said.

Tynan complained about the headlights to the woman through the open window.

The woman started to call police, so Tynan hit her in the face with a beer bottle she was holding.

Her boyfriend got out of the car and confronted Tynan, who ran away.

The woman’s face was covered in blood. She had three cuts to her face and was shaken by the attack, the police summary said.

She was taken to Wairau Hospital, in Blenheim.

When spoken to by police, Tynan said she had been drinking heavily and did not remember the attack.

She admitted a charge of assault with a blunt instrument at the Blenheim Dis- trict Court on Monday.

Her lawyer Alan Heward said Tynan had contacted alcohol and drug services since the assault, and signed up for Maataa Waka’s Stopping Violence programme.

Judge Tony Zohrab convicted her and ordered a drug and alcohol report and for Tynan’s home to be assessed for home detention.

‘‘Prison may well be the end outcome for the sentencing judge,’’ he warned.

He referred Tynan for restorative justice, where she could meet with the woman to try and make amends if the woman was willing to participate.

Judge Zohrab remanded Tynan on bail to be sentenced on December 4, with a curfew from 8pm to 7am.