Child cruelty mum 'put relationship before her child'

A SWANSEA couple who pleaded guilty to child cruelty have been sentenced.

The pair — who cannot be named for legal reasons — are from the Townhill area of the city.

The child was left with injuries the judge said were consistent with assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The man admitted hitting the child twice and forcibly shaving his head as well as throwing a cup of squash over the child.

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The child had "lots of marks and bruises", Swansea Crown Court heard.

"Numerous bruises which he found difficult to interpret were in unusual sites for accidental injury," said Patrick Griffiths, prosecuting. Mr Griffiths said the child's school brought the case to police attention.

When the child was interviewed by police he said: "He always says he's going to stop hitting me".

The man said the child was "clumsy" and "prone to falling" and said he had acquired the injuries by falling off his bike.

The woman, who is the child's mother, originally told police the injuries had been caused by "playing around". She then admitted she had stopped the man hitting her child on another occasion and the man had pushed her over instead.

The man admitted cruelty to a person under the age of 16 by wilfully assaulting or ill-treating a child in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to health.

He was jailed for 27 weeks.

An order was also made banning him from working with children.

The woman, who has learning difficulties, admitted she had wilfully neglected the child but denied knowing there had been violence used towards the child.

She cried throughout the sentencing hearing before the judge gave her a two-year community order.

"What you did wrong was to put your relationship before your obligation to your child," said the judge.

ruth.mosalski@swwmedia.co.uk

01792 514606