Man assaulted woman and kids

Weeks into his relationship with a woman he met over the Tinder dating app, Tyrone Ivan Gosling had shoved her into a wall, hit her with a vacuum cleaner attachment, and left her children bruised after forcing them onto a potty.

The 23-year-old Waimate man pleaded guilty to five counts of male assaults female, assault with a weapon, assaulting a child, wilful damage, and driving while disqualified for a third or subsequent time when he appeared before Judge Joanna Maze in the Timaru District Court yesterday.

Gosling was remanded on bail to appear at a later date.

The victim and her three children, aged between 2 and 5, were staying with Gosling in Waimate when he first acted violently towards them on January 19, 2019.

Following an incident involving washing powder, Gosling became angry at her oldest child and left the 5-year-old in a paddock. He proceeded to assault the child’s mother numerous times over the course of the day.

First, he grabbed the woman’s arms and shoved her, causing her head to strike a wall. Then, while she was carrying her 2-year-old son, he pushed her and she fell into a bathtub.

"An argument ensured, resulting in the defendant throwing her cellphone out into a nearby paddock," Crown prosecutor Helen Bennett said.

The victim fetched her phone and headed for a bedroom to lie down, Gosling following her the entire way. Using a vacuum cleaner attachment, he struck her right forearm and the inside of her right foot.

The next day, Gosling was ‘‘bullying’’ the victim’s two youngest children into using a potty as part of their toilet training, Bennett said.

‘‘The defendant forced and held both of the children on the potty, which resulted in bruising to their buttocks.’’

When the victim was putting her children to bed, Gosling told her they needed showering before slapping her across the face and shoving her into the walls.

Security guard attacked

A case of mistaken identity saw a Timaru man grab a nightclub’s head security guard in a headlock and bite him.

Toni Atonia Witahu Beale, 21, was sentenced to 160 hours’ community work and ordered to pay $500 reparation when he appeared yesterday on a charge of assault with intent to injure.

A security guard was attempting to break up a fight by evicting a patron when Beale attacked him in the Factory Bar and Nightclub on Stafford St, about 1.45am on October 13.

Believing his brother was involved in the ordeal, Beale wrapped his arms around the victim’s neck and bit his head.

The victim ‘‘feared he was going to go unconscious’’, police prosecutor Sergeant Ian Howard.

Judge Maze said Beale appeared to ‘‘genuinely believe’’ he was protecting his brother by assaulting the head security guard, but his actions had carried ‘‘considerable risk’’ of cutting oxygen to the brain of the victim.

Beale offered $500 in reparation to the victim.