A man who shoved a High Court judge to the ground during a road rage incident, causing her to break her wrist has failed in a bid to escape a conviction.

James Lawrence Beaumont Gilliland was charged with injuring Justice Mary Peters "with reckless disregard for the safety of others" following an altercation in Auckland in May.

Justice Peters sits in the High Court at Auckland.

Gilliland - a 29-year-old computer programmer - pleaded guilty to the charge and when he appeared in the Auckland District Court last week, applied for a discharge without conviction.

Yesterday Judge June Jelas delivered her decision on the application, which had been reserved.

She has denied the application.

Gilliland will be sentenced on November 30.

Last week the court heard that on May 9, Gilliland was walking on Ponsonby Rd and was 
approaching Picton St.

Justice Peters pulled her car around the corner and Gilliland believed she was not going to stop and the pedestrians crossing the street were in danger

Gilliland kicked Justice Peters' car.

She then got out and he pushed her, causing her to fall on the concrete and break her wrist.

Gilliland admitted the charge of assaulting Justice Peters but his lawyer Marie Dyhrberg QC submitted that a conviction would impact on his employment and travel prospects in 
future.

James Lawrence Beaumont Gilliland, 29, in the dock at the Auckland District Court. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Dyhrberg said there was "no obvious intent to injure" Justice Peters, but Gilliland accepted there was "no justification" for lashing out.

She told the court that he had been knocked off his bike by a car in an earlier and unrelated incident and due to the trauma of that, he was "sensitised to traffic".

Dyhrberg argued that the consequence of a conviction was "disproportionate" to the force applied.

Crown prosecutor Robin McCoubrey opposed the application and said a conviction was appropriate for the "serious" offending.

He said regardless of the "perceived risk" Gilliland saw around Justice Peters' driving, his actions were wholly wrong.

He said the offending was serious and pointed out to the court that in other cases where people have been pushed, their injuries have been severe or fatal.

Justice Peters has declined to comment on the incident.