A young man who gave his mother's partner loose teeth and black eyes attacked him because he thought his mother needed help.
"You had heard a heated discussion and went to the assistance of your mother," Judge Dugald Matheson said to Shane Paul Hawe-Wilson.
The 19-year-old pleaded guilty in the Whanganui District Court on Tuesday to injuring with intent to injure and an unrelated charge of unlawfully taking a bicycle.
"You were at your home, shared by your mother and her ex-partner. You believed your mother needed assistance. Simply put, you attacked the gentleman.
"You hit him to the ground and punched and kicked him."