Woman choked by partner amid row

A woman was left with difficulty eating after her former partner choked her, a court heard.

The pair were arguing on June 6 when possum trapper Nicholas John Paterson, 22, grabbed the victim around her throat with both his hands.

He squeezed tightly enough that she struggled for breath and was unable to talk as he choked her.

After about 40 seconds he let her go.

The victim received red marks and bruising to her neck, a swollen jaw which caused discomfort while eating, and a sore head, police prosecutor Steve Hickey told Hawera District Court on Tuesday.

The assault happened at Paterson’s home at Mahoe, near Stratford.

A protection order was in force at the time, having been issued by Hawera District Court just two weeks earlier.

The defendant and the victim had been in and out of a relation- ship for approximately four years and have a one-year-old child.

Paterson had previously pleaded guilty to one charge of assault with intent to injure and two charges of breaching the protection order, relating to incidents on June 10, four days after the assault.

On that occasion, Paterson arrived unannounced at the victim’s workplace at 4.30pm, Hickey said.

He asked if he could see his daughter and the two travelled together to Hawera to collect her, travelling back about 8.15pm.

When they arrived back the victim dropped the defendant at his car, but he followed her back to her house, uninvited.

He asked to come inside and was told no.

She asked him numerous times to leave but he only did so after she said she would call the police.

Lawyer Nathan Bourke said his client’s anger had got the better of him, but he was now undergoing counselling and was open to attending other programmes.

‘‘Given there’s a child in the picture he realises he needs to have a workable relationship with her,’’ he said.

He sought a non-custodial sentence and Judge Chris Sygrove agreed, although he warned Paterson that breaching protection orders and assaults of this nature were taken very seriously.

He sentenced Paterson to six months’ supervision and 100 hours of community work and ordered him to pay emotional harm reparation of $250.