Stepfather who whipped his partner’s eight-year-old twins with a belt so ferociously they were rushed to hospital WON’T go to jail
- A man with two previous probation orders for domestic violence escapes jail
- The Queensland man was convicted of assault causing bodily harm while armed
- He was sentenced to six months in prison but was released on immediate parole
- After whipping the twins with a belt four times they had to be taken to hospital
- He sobbed in court and said he went ‘too far’ and ‘felt disgusted with himself’
A stepfather has avoided jail after whipping his partner’s eight-year-old twins with a belt so hard the attack was labelled a ‘weaponised assault’.
The man in his 30s, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he was at the ‘end of his tether’ when the assault occurred and admitted he went ‘too far’.
But lawyers for the man argued to the Mackay District Court in North Queensland he considered corporal punishment to be a legitimate form of discipline, after being subjected to it by his parents growing up.
‘He readily accepts that he took it too far … he didn’t mean to hit so hard as to cause bruises,’ barrister Scott McLennan said.
The Sunshine Coast Daily reported that at the time of the assault the man – who had two previous probation orders for domestic violence – was living with his partner in a one-bedroom home in North Queensland with the twins and his partner’s other children.
A stepfather with two previous probation orders for domestic violence has narrowly escaped jail after whipping his eight-year-old partner’s twins with a belt so hard the attack was labelled a ‘weaponised assault’ (Stock image)
Mr McLennan told the court the behaviour of the twins became increasingly unruly.
‘They thought they had the run of the house and could do whatever they wanted,’ Mr McLennan said.
He whipped the children four times with a belt, with their injuries so severe they had to be taken to hospital.
Medical staff alerted authorities and the man was charged with assault causing bodily harm while armed.
Although Crown prosecutor Samantha O’Rourke said ‘It was a weaponised assault against not one but two children,’ she did not think a jail sentence was warranted.
The man was sentenced to six months jail but was immediately released on parole at the Mackay District Court (pictured) in North Queensland
The man sobbed in court and said he ‘felt disgusted with himself’.
The judge who presided over the case said while the living environment would have been chaotic and stressful, it did not excuse his actions.
‘The bruising one sees in the photographs was significant to each child and well demonstrates the degree of force that you used,’ Judge Brad Farr said.
The man was sentenced to six months in prison but was released immediately on parole.