Beaten children: 'We need Daddy back home'

Daddy's whip Three pieces of electrical cable used as a whip was expected to be tendered in evidence yesterday.
Daddy's whip Three pieces of electrical cable used as a whip was expected to be tendered in evidence yesterday.

THREE children this morning saved their father from a possible jail term after they told a magistrate they forgave him for beating them with three pieces of electrical cable tied together as a whip.

As a result, the father was freed by senior magistrate Jo-Anne Connor in the San Fernando magistrates’ court on a charge of wilful assault. The three children, two over 18 and the third under 16, told the magistrate that they must forgive their dad because they need a “father figure in their lives.”

The charge stemmed from reports made to the San Fernando Police Station by their mother on April 21, 2017, that her husband wrapped three pieces of cable together, then beat the children, two boys and a girl, on the head, shoulder and hands. They had to seek treatment at San Fernando General Hospital.

The family is from Diamond Village, San Fernando.WPC Natalie Ransome investigated and charged the father. Yesterday, the case was scheduled to begin before Connor and police prosecutor Cleyon Seedan called the 19-year-old son. He said he did not wish to continue with the case.

The father sat in the dock while his son stood on the witness box and said, “I need a father figure in my life. I forgive him.”The 17-year-old daughter, called and questioned by Seedan, said, “He’s my father, I forgive him.” The 16-year-old son said, “I want to drop the charge. I need my father in my house.”

The wife also stood in the witness box and said, “Old wounds heal. That’s the children’s dad anyway.”Seedan said he could not proceed with the case without the children's evidence. Connor told the father the charge against him was dismissed.

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