Man sentenced for hitting expartner

A FAILED city council candidate who punched his expartner has been sentenced to community detention.

Martini Anton Tame Samson (32) will be restricted to his home during the weekend for the next four months after he was sentenced in the Dunedin District Court yesterday.

Midway through his jury trial earlier this month, he pleaded guilty to assaulting a female and also admitted a charge of possessing a weapon in public.

On October 31, Samson’s former partner had brought his children around so he could take them trickortreating.

But the defendant — who had unsuccessful attempts at becoming a Dunedin city councillor in 2010 and 2016 — was irate their daughter had been allowed to write a letter to the woman’s new boyfriend, who was in prison.

Sensing the tension, the victim said she would take the children home and headed for the door.

Before she reached it, Samson pushed her into the door frame, on which she struck her head.

‘‘I turned around to say ‘What are you doing?’ and he punched me in the face, which immediately split my eye open,’’ the woman said at he trial.

‘‘It was all so sudden. It didn’t hurt at the time. So much was going through my head.’’

The attack left a 2.5cm cut over the woman’s eyebrow, the court heard.

While on bail awaiting trial in May, Samson heard a ruckus while he was at a Calton Hill address.

He grabbed a baseball bat and headed outside.

A man on the street told Samson to drop the weapon.

He did and the pair fought until they heard sirens.

When police questioned the defendant, he said he suffered his injuries ‘‘falling out of bed’’.

Judge Kevin Phillips said the only reason Samson was not going to prison was because he dropped the bat and did not use it in the scuffle.

However, he noted his 2030 previous convictions, some of which were for similar offending.

‘‘I consider you are a medium to high risk of further harm because of your propensity for violence,’’ the judge said.

Defence counsel Deborah Henderson said while her client had been behind bars after his bail breach, he had missed the birthday of one of his children and felt it keenly.

She said he was looking forward to being a ‘‘proactive and prosocial member of the community’’ and was planning to study towards a diploma in family and community studies.

Despite her argument against it, Judge Phillips granted a protection order in favour of the victim.

‘‘I consider the violence asserted was just part of ongoing attempts made by you to control her,’’ he told Samson.

‘‘I don’t see a great deal of remorse within you at all.’’

Samson was also sentenced to 175 hours’ community work and six months’ supervision.

rob.kidd@odt.co.nz

❛I consider you are a medium to high risk of further harm because of your propensity for

violence❜