A man who slapped his 9-year-old son across the face several times was sentenced to community work and supervision for the assault.
He also admitted pushing the boy into a door frame, knocking him to the ground. The 27-year-old assaulted the boy some time in April, the first time after a cellphone went missing. He began yelling at the child, who had been playing with the phone.
He pushed the victim, who then hit the door frame and fell down.
On another occasion in April, the man struck the boy in the face about five times with an open palm as he yelled and swore at him for leaving a mess in the living room. The victim's head bumped into a butter container when he was hit. He suffered bruising to his forehead and was taken for a medical examination.
The man pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting a child when he appeared in the Whanganui District Court on Tuesday.
Judge David Cameron sentenced him to 120 hours of community work and six months of supervision.