A 54-year-old man who punched his teenage daughter thought he was hitting his wife during the domestic assault.

The Maitland man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told magistrate John Chicken he was attacked from behind and thought he was punching his wife when he struck the girl in the ribs.

“Why were you punching anyone at all?” Mr Chicken asked.

The man responded: “Because I got attacked from behind...it's an ongoing situation, I just had enough.”

“So you think it's alright to punch your wife?” Mr Chicken said.