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A man who punched a woman in the face so hard her teeth went through her cheek as she was driving later suggested she kill herself.

Now, Glen Brian Lang has tried to claim during his sentencing that her injuries were “fictitious”.

It prompted a quick warning from the judge that allowing him to speak was not an opportunity to make comments about the offending.

The 35-year-old appeared in the Nelson District Court for sentencing after admitting in April charges of assault with intent to injure, inciting suicide, intimidation and failing to assist police with a search.

Lang’s lawyer failed to turn up for the hearing, leaving him visibly frustratedand telling the court he wanted sentencing dealt with, and that he wanted it to reflect the time he had already served.

Duty lawyer Ian Miller stood in so the case didn’t have to be adjourned.

“I don’t ever intend coming back and I don’t intend to pursue this woman,” Lang said in a letter he read to the judge before sentencing.

Glen Lang said in a statement read in the Nelson District Court about a woman he punched “not having visible injuries” that it was not victim blaming, but “just fact”. Photo / Tracy Neal

Lang said it was the first time he had been able to have a say, in the seven months he had been incarcerated since the events of November last year.

A fight at K-Mart

Lang and the victim were at K-Mart in Richmond when an argument broke out in front of other shoppers.

The pair got into a car, when the victim, who was driving, looked across at Lang and he punched her in the face, causing her teeth to go through her cheek. He then “squeezed” her face, causing her to slam on the brakes.

After Lang was dropped off at an address, he then sent the woman a number of messages, encouraging her to “kill herself”.

The woman was able to block him, but he was able to send another message that caused her to fear for her safety.

He later refused to comply with requests from the police to hand over devices used to send the messages, said Judge Peter Hobbs, reading from the police summary of facts.

Miller said while Lang did not accept the summary of facts over what happened, he accepted he was being sentenced on them.

‘Just the facts’

Lang claimed in the letter read in court that the victim’s statement about her injuries was “fictitious”, and that she had suffered “no injuries at all”.

Miller said he had advised Lang against “victim blaming”, to which Lang responded it was “just the facts”.

Judge Hobbs said a victim impact statement suggested otherwise and that the charge of inciting suicide was concerning, and had upset the victim.

From a starting point of 30 months in prison, Lang was given credit for his guilty pleas, and for completing rehabilitation programmes and courses while he has been on remand.

He was sentenced to 19 months in prison on the two most serious charges of assault and inciting suicide, a further month on the intimidation charges to be served concurrently.

On the charge of failing to assist in a search, he was convicted and discharged.

Lang told the court he was still young, and had a lot of growing to do, and had plans and goals in order to get back on track.

“This place has definitely affected me, so I have no intention of coming back,” Lang said of his prison experience so far, including that he claimed he had been attacked there.

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at ��һ�ǿ�����. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.