Wollongong party turns sour as journo screams in woman's face over Trump

"It's unfortunate Mr Trump's tentacles have come this far," defence lawyer Graeme Morrison said on Monday.

Retired journalist Peter Hand was sentenced at Wollongong Local Court for intimidating a woman during a debate about Trump at a gathering held in his Scarborough backyard on February 11.

Hand and a female guest had been drinking alcohol with others when a discussion about foreign politics and Trump erupted into an "heated argument".

Tendered court documents state the pair separated, with the woman going into a guest bedroom, while Hand's wife attempted to calm her "agitated" husband down.

However, Hand stormed into the bedroom and stopped within centimetres of the woman's face while he yelled abuse at her, calling her a number of slurs.

He left and came back to the room several times, before he returned a final time and screamed in the woman's face: "I'm going to get you, I'm going to get you, 'cause you're a tax fraud!"

"You're scaring me, please move back," the terrified woman repeated several times, until Hand finally moved away and went back to his backyard.

The woman called triple-0 as she was scared Hand would return. Police arrived and obtained a statement from the woman, before finding Hand under the stairs of the backyard.

He later pleaded guilty to intimidation.

Mr Morrison said Hand was a "distinguished journalist both locally and internationally".

The lawyer added Hand's guest was supportive of Trump and the argument escalated after Hand challenged her source, which she said was Sky News.

Magistrate Mark Douglass accepted Hand was affected by mental illness at the time of the incident which played a causal role in the intimidation.

Hand received a six-month conditional release order, commonly referred to as a good behaviour bond, with no conviction recorded.