Women belted boy for refusing to eat cheese
Leanne Edmistone
25jan05
BELTING a child repeatedly for refusing to eat the cheese in his dinner was gratuitous violence, not parental discipline, Brisbane District Court judge Milton Griffin said yesterday.
A 32-year-old woman and the boy's mother, 24, were sentenced to a six-month intensive correctional order, which requires them to report twice a week to police and undergo counselling, medical treatment and complete programs as necessary.
The women, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty on Friday to assaulting a seven-year-old boy with a belt, causing extensive bruising to his face, legs and buttocks.
His mother also held the boy's arms while the other woman tried to force feed him the cheese.
The incident happened on February 25 last year, when the boy, his younger sister and mother were staying with the family of the boy's school friend in an outer suburb of Brisbane.
It came to light when the boy's mother was stopped by police for traffic offences several days later and officers noticed the boy's injuries.
Judge Griffin yesterday said while the 32-year-old woman landed most of the blows, the mother was equally responsible, because her son would have trusted her to protect him.
"This was a sustained and cruel assault on the boy," he said.
"This is not a case of discipline going beyond the bounds of what was reasonable, this was gratuitous violence against the child."
SIT DOWN, SHUT UP, AND EAT YOUR CHEESE!
1 comment:
Two points:
A - My position on cheese is already on record, I'm in favor of it and we don't need to revisit that topic.
and...
2 - Australians...
The ruthless violation of sheep is overlooked, their institutionalized abuse of the indigenous people is shrugged off as a misunderstanding.
But pass up a nice bit of Gouda? And the belt is off.
For shame, Paul Hogan you could have stopped this with a well-placed g'day, instead you did nothing.
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