Mattheus Heimer sentenced to nine months supervision for assaulting woman at McDonald’s Queenstown

Mattheus Heimer leaving the Queenstown District Court after being sentenced for assaulting a woman at McDonald's Queenstown.

Mattheus Heimer says he “would have thought twice” if he knew the skateboarder he pinned down by the neck and slapped inside a McDonald’s restaurant was a woman.

The drunk 26-year-old was charged after going on a bender in December, during which he assaulted the woman while waiting for food at the Queenstown fast-food restaurant.

Now, Heimer has been sentenced to nine months’ supervision in the Queenstown District Court, with Judge Noel Walsh saying he “decided to take her down” that night.

The incident arose after Heimer entered McDonald’s Queenstown in the town centre at 3am on December 17, 2025.

The court heard Heimer saw the woman skating inside and instead of communicating with her, he pinned her down on a table.

He was then pulled off by her friends, but he went back for more, slapping her across the face with an open hand.

The incident was caught on McDonald’s CCTV cameras, which also showed he remained at McDonald’s talking to the victim and a number of people who came to her aid following the assault.

The assualt happened at McDonalds Queenstown in the early hours of December 17. Photo / NZPA

The woman provided a victim impact statement to the court.

She said she was now nervous about being in the city centre and feels self-conscious when she hears people approaching from behind.

“I am worried about getting attacked again. I am worried about going out alone now.”

In a letter to the victim, read out in court, Heimer apologised and said he drank after receiving distressing news about a family member.

“I want you to know I am not a violent person,” he said.

Heimer had since lost his job and accommodation but had found new employment as a scaffolder.

Defence counsel DeAnne Nicoloso told the judge the case was “quite unique”.

Heimer was originally charged with common assault as both he and the police believed the victim was male.

If he knew the victim was female, he “would have thought twice”, Nicoloso said.

But Judge Walsh said Heimer said it did not matter if the victim was male or female.

“You can see you’ve gone on a bender after you received bad news about a family member,” he said.

“I don’t give any weight to whether you thought this person was a male or female, it doesn’t matter.”

The “poor young woman” will look over her shoulder in this town for the rest of her life, he said.

Heimer was sentenced to nine months’ supervision and ordered to attend and complete alcohol, drug and anger management programmes.

He is not allowed to contact the victim and was to pay her $500 in emotional harm reparation.

But despite telling the victim he was not a violent person, NZME can reveal Heimer was previously convicted of assault in July 2023, at which time he was handed down a sentence of intensive supervision.

Between November 2021 and 2022 he managed to get five charges for five separate incidents.

In May 2022 he was sentenced for driving drunk twice while on a learner’s licence and two counts of assault following a fight at a flat party.

For those charges, he was sentenced to 100 hours’ community work, 12 months’ supervision and ordered to pay $250 reparation.

Brianna McIlraith is a Queenstown-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the lower South Island. She has been a journalist since 2018 and has had a strong interest in business and financial journalism.