A man who yelled at a group of youths to stop hassling his 12-year-old daughter leapt from his car and placed one in a headlock.
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The man did so after his secondary school student victim smashed a side mirror on his car.
Albury Local Court has been told the man had just yelled at the boy: "You gunna pay for that."
Defence lawyer Mark Cronin submitted to magistrate Melissa Humphreys that his client should not have reacted in such a way.
Mr Cronin said the man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, should have just let the incident slide, given he was interacting with minors.
The Lavington man, 44, pleaded guilty to a single charge of common assault, after police withdrew a more serious charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The court was told the man had an older child, a son, who was a student at the same school as the teenagers he confronted.
Police said the offender was in the driver's seat of his car on August 7, 2023, about 3.30pm, having parked his car in Logan Road, North Albury, near the intersection of Sylvania Avenue.
His son got into the front passenger seat, then moments later a group of secondary school students crossed Logan Road.
They were heading in the direction of the APCO service station on Mate Street.
The man yelled out to them words to the effect of: "Leave my daughter the f... alone."
The victim approached the car and replied: "What?"
"I'm talking to them girls, not you," the man said.
The youth then said: "That one is my sister. Why are you talking to her?"
The man in turn replied: "Why don't they fight my daughter while I'm here now?"
Police said the man then tried to open the driver's door on to the victim, who was standing right next to the car.
"Fearful for the safety of his sister and (the) youths, the victim leaned on the door of the vehicle to prevent the accused from getting out."
This enraged the man, who warned "you don't wanna know what I'll do to you if I get out of this car".
This in turn angered the youth, who punched the driver's-side rear-view mirror, causing it to smash.
Police said the victim then walked about two to three metres towards the APCO, which was when the man issued his "pay for that" threat.
"The accused, who was highly agitated, quickly exited his vehicle, ran towards the victim, throwing a punch towards him."
The punch missed. The victim also threw a punch, which struck the left side of the man's face.
The man then slipped over on the grass, causing the youth to also fall over.
"The victim was on the ground in a bear-crawl position when the accused stood over him, placing the victim in a headlock (and) standing him upright."
Police said this caused the youth to have trouble breathing.
Two other members of the group pulled the pair apart. The assault was witnessed by two teachers driving past in a car - they recognised the victim and other teenagers as coming from their school.
Police spoke to the man at his home on September 8.
"I pushed him away from my car," he said, "He smashed my mirror, dude.
"That's all it was. I wouldn't punch him, I wouldn't punch him. I pushed him to the ground away from me as he was punching me."
Police then asked him why the incident took place.
"Those kids have been harassing my daughter, following her around after school, down (at) the shopping centres."
Ms Humphries convicted and fined the man $660, as well as granting an apprehended personal violence order against him for the protection of the victim.
