A Palmerston North churchgoer who ripped off part of a fellow churchgoer's earlobe when she became enraged because dishes weren't washed after a service has been sentenced to 250 hours' community work.
Ateliana Lei Malu, 52, pleaded guilty in Palmerston North District Court on May 11 to assaulting the man at a church meeting in March, the Manawatu Standard reported.
Malu was sentenced in the same court on Tuesday afternoon.
As well as community work she was also ordered to pay $500 in reparations to her victim, a court spokeswoman told NZ Newswire.
Police earlier told the court that she wrestled the man to the ground, pulled his hair, scratched his face with her fingernails, blackened his eye and ripped off part of his earlobe, which had to be stitched back on.
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