Man dragged girlfriend in headlock during roadside row

A Whangarei man who dragged his girlfriend in a headlock back to the car after an argument beside State Highway 1 has been sentenced to community work and ordered to do an anger management course and relationship counselling.

Dylan Richard Gardner, 23, appeared in Whangarei District Court on Monday where he pleaded guilty to one charge of assault with intent to injure and one of assaulting a female.

Gardner and his girlfriend were on SH1, south of Whangarei, on October 13 last year when they got into an argument. The vehicle stopped near Blue Goose, just south of the city, and the pair got out, still arguing.

A witness reported seeing Gardner assault the woman and place her in a headlock while dragging her back to the vehicle.

The assault prompted motorists to stop to help the woman and Gardner got back into his vehicle and drove off, with police stopping him a short time later.

The woman was possibly rendered unconscious by the headlock, Judge John McDonald said, but she could not recall if that was the case and there was no evidence of any injuries.

The judge said putting the woman in a headlock must have involved some sort of strangulation and risked serious injury, "even if that was never the intention in the first place."

Judge McDonald said Gardner had previous convictions, mainly for driving offences, but this was the first for violence.

The judge said community work was appropriate and sentenced Gardner to 100 hours. He also ordered him to undertake 12 months' supervision, including doing an anger management course, relationship counselling and any other courses recommended by his probation officer.