Father of three jailed for slapping 11-month-old daughter for moving when changing her nappy

A 50-year-old man has been jailed at Derry Magistrate's Court today for causing unnecessary suffering to his three children including slapping his 11-month-old daughter because she moved when he was changing her nappy.

The man who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victims in the case admitted three charges of child cruelty on dates between January 1, 2014 and June 30, 2019 to his two sons and his daughter.

The court heard in statements the children said their father 'was always being aggressive'.

On one occasion he had slapped the oldest son in the face and kept him off school until the marks faded.

The children said that they were not allowed to play outside nor have friends round. 

The court heard that one of the children then aged 4-years-old was punched several times on the arm.

The children were also hit with a wooden spoon as well as being kicked by their father. 

Victim impact reports from the ex-wife and two of the children revealed that they were 'afraid' of their father and on more than one occasion he kept them off school 'to hide bruises'.

The children's grandmother also told police that she felt 'uncomfortable' visiting the house and that the oldest child had told her about being physically ill-treated by his father including being kicked and punched. 

On one occasion he broke a toy light sabre over one of the children. 

At interview the man confirmed he could be 'physical' with the children but said the marks on his oldest was because the boy had 'sensitive skin'. 

He confirmed slapping the 11-month-old baby because she had started to crawl away when he was changing her. 

He claimed that the baby would understand 'physical chastisement'. 

Defence counsel Fergal McCormack said it was difficult to make any mitigation in this case. 

He said that the defendant 'doesn't even want me to try'.

The barrister said that the man had no previous record and has 'felt the impact of his offending.' 

District Judge Barney McElholm said that this case had clearly passed the custody threshold. 

He said he thought we had put those days behind us when 'people physically chastised their children.' 

The judge said that this was not 'the odd slap' but was a 'sustained and frequent' course of action. 

He said that the children were 'terrorised and afraid of him'.

The judge said that the man would get credit for his early guilty plea and so he would impose a sentence of six months on each charge and not make them consecutive. 

The man was sentenced to a total of six months and had a restraining order imposed for a period of five years.