Mum stole paper round money, punched girl
The 34-year-old solo mother pleaded guilty to a charge of assault on a child in Dannevirke District court yesterday, for the incident on December 1.
The court heard how at 9am, the Dannevirke beneficiary stormed into her daughter’s room and demanded the cash the girl had made from her paper run.
When she refused the woman began to shout, and an argument ensued.
As the girl left the bedroom the woman followed her down the hallway and punched her in the back of the head with a closed fist, the court was told.
The girl fell to the ground where the woman began kicking her “numerous times” in the back, before she managed to scramble up and out of the house.
She ran to an address down the road, where police were called.
When spoken to by police the woman admitted all the evidence given by her daughter was true, and said in her defence: “I have been really stressed about a lot of things, and I just lost it.”
The girl was removed from the home by Child, Youth and Family, and is staying with an aunt. It was a condition of the woman’s bail she have no contact with her daughter and refrain from consuming alcohol, the court heard.
Judge Jennifer Binns convicted the woman of assault, remanding her for sentencing until February 26 so a victim impact statement could be prepared.
She amended the bail conditions so the woman could see her daughter in supervised visits. “I’ve seen these cases before, and sometimes it’s detrimental if there is no contact at all.”
The maximum sentence is two years’ imprisonment.
Funny that judges never seem to think this when a father is accused of abuse.
Comment by JohnP — Tue 16th December 2008 @ 10:38 pm
I imagine the mother’s lawyer is going to say that her client is really the victim here, not being given enough benefit money for alcohol etc
Comment by Larry — Fri 19th December 2008 @ 9:04 am
Indeed. Imagine a judge making special allowances for a man to maintain contact with his daughter after he knocked her to the ground with a closed fist to the back of the head, then kicked the girl numerous times as she lay on the ground! Imagine a pig flying.
Of course, this judge’s decision was probably wise. The last thing a child needs on top of abuse is to lose contact with a parent. But as JohnP says, this doesn’t seem to be considered in our Courts’ consideration of fathers. In punishing a man it matters little to the Courts what the effects will be on his children.
Poster #2, the most likely scenario will be that some man gets the blame for the mother’s behaviour, and the most likely outcome is that the Court will collude with this excuse eagerly. It’s surprising that she hasn’t had the presence of mind to come up with it before now.
Comment by Hans Laven — Mon 22nd December 2008 @ 2:06 pm