Dale Wiegand, 35, sentenced at Bendigo Magistrates’ for unlawful assault on woman, resisting police

A Bendigo father of four recovering from heart surgery has faced court for spitting in a woman’s face in front of her child before fighting cops because he was woken too early.

Dale Wiegand, 35, pleaded guilty to unlawful assault and resisting police after a 6am alarm sent him on an abusive rampage on September 26 last year.

A Bendigo dad-of-four who is “lucky to be alive” after heart surgery spat in a woman’s face in front of her child before getting in a fight with the police because he was woken too early, a court has heard.

Dale Wiegand, 35, pleaded guilty to unlawful assault and resisting police after a 6am alarm sent him on an “abusive” rampage on September 26 last year.

The court heard Wiegand was so enraged that he was woken so early that he verbally abused a 9-year-old child.

Dale Wiegand was convicted of unlawful assault.

The victim stepped in between Wiegand and her child, enraging the grub who “covered her face in spit”.

He continued to be verbally abusive as he followed her through the house as she attempted to clean herself up before shoving her into a bedroom, the court heard.

He then pushed her into a closet, causing her pain to the neck, before she broke away and called the police.

When officers arrived they found an agitated Wiegand, who refused to accompany them to the police station.

The father of four was “lucky to be alive” after open heart surgery two weeks before the vicious assault.

Wiegand attempted to re-enter the home where the victim and her children were hiding but police blocked him.

Body-worn footage captured Wiegand escalating his “verbal abuse and force” towards police, the court heard, before police attempted to detain him.

Wiegand fought back and was taken to the ground, continuing to resist police before he was hauled off to the hospital.

When he was interviewed, he told police he didn’t co-operate because the handcuffs hurt.

When confronted with the allegations of the assault, Wiegand told police.

The court heard Wiegand had a history of offending against women.

“We got into an argument, she always gets in my face,” he said.

“She wouldn’t get out of my face so I spat in her face to get her out of mine.

“I didn’t lay a hand on her … I’m the victim.

Wiegand’s lawyer tendered a psychological report to the court which revealed he was suffering from “cardiac blues” at the time of the assault following a major open heart surgery two weeks prior.

Magistrate Russell Kelly said Wiegand “had a bit going on in his life” at the time which went towards explaining his violent outburst.

However, Mr Kelly said Wiegand had previously been convicted of violence against the same victim

Wiegand’s lawyer asked for a good behaviour bond, but police argued his offending was “very derogatory behaviour … in front of children” and a “message needs to be sent”.

Mr Kelly convicted and sentenced Wiegand to an 18 month good behaviour bond due to Wiegand’s “unusual” circumstances, telling him if he had not been dealing with the trauma of heart surgery at the time could have been jailed.

Mr Kelly warned Wiegand that if he came back a third time he would go to jail.