Assault conviction for gym owner
A Timaru gym owner has been convicted on his second assault charge.
Scott Andrew Tweedie, 40, appeared before Judge Joanna Maze in the Timaru District Court yesterday, having pleaded guilty to common assault at an earlier appearance.
Tweedie was charged after he assaulted a woman who was sitting in the passenger seat of his car in the early hours of June 10.
He admitted slapping the woman, seizing her by the hair and repeatedly smashing her face into the side window of the vehicle.
The attack caused bruising and swelling to the left side of the victim’s face, police prosecutor Anne-Marie McRae said.
He had been yelling and arguing with her during a drive from Geraldine to Timaru when he attacked.
‘‘He slapped the victim in the face with his left hand, and continued yelling at the victim,’’ McRae said.
Tweedie is known for establishing Muay Thai gymnasium Kicksports in 2014, taking up a fulltime coaching role in 2017.
Defence lawyer Douglas Brown said the defendant was ‘‘ashamed by his actions’’, offering $500 to the victim for emotional harm.
‘‘She was intoxicated and he reacted badly,’’ Brown said.
McRae said a fine should also be imposed as Tweedie, who was previously convicted for assault in 2000, had committed what she considered ‘‘serious offending’’.
Judge Maze instead upped the reparation payment, preferring to see the money benefit the victim.
She convicted Tweedie and ordered that he pay $750 reparation to the victim.