A man who told the court that he was provoked into punching his babymother in the eye was fined $10,000 or spend six months in prison when he appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday.

Andrew Graham, 21, pleaded guilty with explanation to the charge of assault occasioning bodily harm.

Graham told the court that at the time of the incident, his child's mother was pressuring him for money for their four-month-old child, which he said resulted in him losing his temper and punching her in the eye.

"I was very provoked and attacked, I told my babymother that I made a deposit for tuition payments, and made a monthly payment to the child for $6,000 to help out. I told her that I was running low because of the payments, and she still demanded more."

The complainant told the court " I want to drop the charges for the sake of my baby," to which Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey responded, "Well, you might want to drop the charges but he will have to pay the fine."