Man jailed for slapping partner’s boss so hard he ultimately developed a UTI

A man who slapped his partner’s boss so hard it ultimately caused him to develop a urinary tract infection because he wrongly believed he was bullying her has been jailed for two years.

A MAN who slapped his partner’s boss so hard it ultimately caused him to develop a urinary tract infection because he wrongly believed he was bullying her has been jailed for two years.

Steven Anderson, 46, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to negligently causing serious harm to the man and assaulting one of his employees in August last year.

The court heard Anderson was intoxicated and had become angry after his partner told him she’d been fired when he arrived at her workplace at about 7.15am on August 6.

He then got out of his car and started swearing before walking over to where the man was standing, talking with an employee.

“Without warning, you forcefully struck him with an open palm to the right side of his face, “ Justice Peter Barr said.

The force of the slap caused the man to land heavily on his backside, fracturing the bone above his tailbone before another man aged in his late 60s stepped in to ask Anderson to settle down.

“Rather than settling down, you forcefully struck (him) to his face, the force of the blow caused (him) to fall to the ground and dislodged a filling from one of his teeth,” Justice Barr said.

“You then adopted a fighting stance, kicked off your thongs and began moving back and forth in a threatening manner — one of the employees then armed himself with a plank of wood.”

Anderson then got back in his car but one of the workers took his keys and another hit him on the head with the wooden plank.

“You got out of your vehicle, retrieved a wooden stick from the tray of your vehicle and chased another employee with that stick, you eventually left the premises on foot,” Justice Barr said.

The court heard the first victim’s broken backbone led to a rare spinal condition that rendered him unable to urinate normally and he had to use a catheter which ultimately led to him being admitted to hospital with a UTI.

“Your partner had led you to believe that she had been bullied by her employer, however, you now agree that she was not bullied and that your perception that she had been bullied was misconceived,” Justice Barr said.

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“I do not know the basis on which you arrived at the misconception which you now acknowledge, however, one thing is clear — even if your partner had been bullied, whatever that means in the context of her employment, your conduct was out of line to a significant degree.”

In suspending Anderson’s sentence after eight months, Justice Barr said he took into account the extra-curial punishment he suffered when he was hit on the head with the plank of wood after the assault.

“Why you were intoxicated at 7 o’clock in the morning on the day of the offending is unclear but that clearly contributed to your violent response to whatever your partner told you,” he said.

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