Supervisor jailed for punching ex-lover outside courtroom
A father of four was jailed four weeks after giving his former girlfriend a "bloody nose" at a family court during a break in a maintenance order hearing, which involved the daughter they had after an extramarital affair.
The 32-year-old supervisor pleaded guilty to causing hurt to the 31-year-old woman on March 31 last year at the waiting area outside a courtroom of the Family Justice Courts in Havelock Square.
An additional charge of spitting at her was also considered.
All names were redacted on the court's order.
The man and his former girlfriend had appeared before a district judge that day as the woman was seeking to vary and enforce existing maintenance payments.
While awaiting the judge's decision, they sat at the waiting area outside the courtroom on separate sofas.
The man's 26-year-old wife was with him, with an infant child on a baby carrier across her strapped to her chest in a baby carrier.
The man was angry with the victim for hauling him to court as he knew he would probably be ordered to pay $7,790 in maintenance arrears.
He punched the victim on the nose during a scuffle that was started by his wife.
Before he was sentenced for the assault, the man agreed in court to pay the victim $114 for medical treatment.
District Judge Lorraine Ho, who noted his plea of genuine remorse and regret, said he was "all the more emotional" because he was facing financial strain.
"There is never an excuse for one person to inflict harm or injury on the other party.
More so when this is done by a man against the mother of one of his children," she added in judgment grounds last week.
The prosecution, which sought a two-month term, is appealing, as is the convicted man.
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