Waylon Johnston
Guilty of brutal child abuse
Partner hit the child to 'teach him a lesson'
A chilling case of child abuse was brought to light yesterday when a couple was convicted of neglecting and hurting three children aged between one and five, hitting them with belts and burning them with cigarettes.
The children's 30-year-old mother was given a suspended jail term and her partner (who is not the father) was jailed for six months after admitting to slightly injuring them and neglecting them in 2002.
The three children, two boys and a girl were left with lice in their hair, covered in bruises and without food for three-day stretches.
The little one was just over one year old at the time and his brother was just under two-and-a-half. The oldest, the girl, was five.
The youngest boy had scratches and bruises all over his body and some wounds compatible with being hit by either a belt or a ruler.
After examining him closely, doctors found paper and rubbish stuck up his nose. Medical doctor Yurgen Abela, who was the first person to see the children in hospital after they were brought there by their grandmother and their mother's aunt, said the youngest child was frightened and yearned for the affection he never had as a child.
The boy's stepbrother had two cigarette burns, one on his right shoulder blade and the other on his left wrist and had wounds similar to those of his younger sibling.
Besides being very dirty, the girl told Dr Abela that her mother's partner would hit her for no reason on her arms and legs.
Dr Abela said that in his opinion this was a very clear-cut case of child abuse.
Social worker Marianne Gauci testified that the case first came to light following an anonymous phone call on the 179 helpline. The caller said the mother gave her children Valium and used to beat them.
An interim care order was issued and the children were taken to a home where they were cared for by nuns after the allegations were verified. A woman, who for some time lived with the couple, testified that the children would be left alone at home while the couple went to a local bar. She said she used to feel sorry for the children and asked a nurse that lived in the apartment above them to look after them.
The witness recounted one incident during which the youngest child, while playing on the parapet, ran away and was brought back by the police. The mother's partner hit the child to "teach him a lesson".
One other time, the mother crushed Valium tablets and then put them into the children's bottles to try and make them go to sleep. However, the pills had the opposite effect and the mother called her partner, who was at the local bar, to get help but he said he was not in the least bit interested because they were not his children.
The witness said she had found out from the girl that if she did not do her homework she was either not fed or was hit by her mother's boyfriend. She had seen the mother hitting the children various times and in one particular incident the mother even hit them with the high heel of her shoe.
In handing down judgment, Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera took into consideration the man's seven previous convictions including theft, drug possession and possession of a weapon, for which he had received a probation, fines and suspended sentences.
Even the mother has a criminal record and in 1995 was convicted of loitering with the intent to prostitute herself and was placed under probation for three years.
The court noted that there should be two different punishments in this case in order to reflect the different criminal records of the accused.
The man was jailed for six months and the woman received a six-month jail term suspended for three years. The court also ordered that the woman be placed under supervision for three years.
Lawyers Veronique Dalli and Josè Herrera appeared for the woman.
Lawyer Malcolm Mifsud appeared for the man. Names are not being published in order to protect the children's identity.
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35 Comments
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Patrick Pace
Oct 28th 2010, 08:06
Stone the abusers
n.attard
Oct 27th 2010, 22:31
Can someone allow me just half an hour with these erm..... so called parent?
I wont stop before breaking both my arms on them
v farrugia
Feb 22nd 2009, 12:32
What amazes me is that prospective adoptive parents have to jump through hoops to have a child, yet, anyone can have a child biologically without any preparation or vetting at all. Just because one is fertile and can breed like rabbits, shouldn't mean that they should.
Alison Richardson
Feb 21st 2009, 20:04
Please do not treat these cases as minor trangressions by parents/partners. There have been numerous fatalities concerning young children in the UK and it is then too late to protect the innocent child.
M Attard
Feb 21st 2009, 19:26
Six months?!! And who is taking care of the children? I sincerely hope they're not back with the mother. This case really leaves me with no words. These poor children should be given to a caring family who is willing to love them. Why does God allow such people to become parents when there are so many persons who would give anything in this world to become a parent!
Sarah Darmenia
Feb 21st 2009, 11:29
And where are the fathers???
Tanja Cilia
Feb 21st 2009, 10:21
There is no mention of the phrase "care order" anywhere. Does this mean the children are to be returned to the parental home, "later"? By the way.... the eldest child went to school... so, again, we have a slew of teachers, and the Head of School, and the minor staff , and the gaggle of parents who gather around the school before and after school hours... not to mention the neighbours... "not noticing" that anything was amiss. For shame! And then we are scandalised by cases such as that of Baby P.
Maria Dolores Fenech
Feb 20th 2009, 15:27
Why does courts take this long to act in such cases? Seven years are too much for young children. I just pray that these children were foster cared during these years and were not left in their mother's care.
As my mother says, "U ghand min jigu t-tfal"
Mark Spiteri
Feb 20th 2009, 12:07
If Lourdes home is closed, and there has generally been a problem caring for children in these social cases, where are these three children now? I seriously hope they're not still living with the mother. If they are, social services is a farce and John Dalli should resign immediately.
Joe Fenech
Feb 20th 2009, 12:03
Where where the social services in this? And the doctors? And the police? Are we going to have people thrown out of their jobs for incompetence like in the Baby P case? If we had the guts and the decency this should be the case! Why didn't the police inform Social Services about the lady's state? Why did it have to be a private caller to take the initiative? Maltese Police - who can be worse?!!!!!!!! Why are authorities so incompetent on this rock?!!!!!! SHAME!!!!!!!
E.Vella
Feb 20th 2009, 07:01
a mother is to protect her children and not abuse them or let others abuse them with her free consent....disgusting
p.grima
Feb 20th 2009, 01:19
So, in just six months, it will be "business as usual" again for all of them, I suppose. My fear is that next time things could be worse. These people need help.
Poor innocent children.
N Attard
Feb 19th 2009, 23:15
Totally disgraceful. These so called parents do not deserve any help but a good lesson. Laws need to be amended to inflict tougher punishments on abuses like these.
Shame on the lawyers who defended these two persons.
alfred curmi
Feb 19th 2009, 22:04
Incredible that also in tiny Malta these horrible abuse and assaults of defenseless tinies are manifested. This used to be 'Christian Malta'.
But how come that the woman witness didn't report direct to police ? Perhaps even worse and the NURSE !!! and the policeman who brought back the runaway kid ??????
The women and partner might themselves be coming from a broken home, i.e. certainly not knowing what love and care means. But still one can never excuse such incredible behaviour.
Certainly I am not judging anyone, because that would be the easiest way out and the persons mentioned above know the circumstances themselves. Policemen overworked, people having their own weighty problems, life moving so fast etc etc...
Let's ALL hope that we all learn our lesson - i.e caring and loving everyone we meet in our daily lives and most importantly be on the alert to report any situations of abuse whoever and wherever they are purpetrated.
C Buttigieg
Feb 19th 2009, 20:17
You should get more than that if you hurt an animal let alone two innocent children !!!! It should shame the Judicial system that such a sentence was given for such behaviour.
Juda Azzopardi
Feb 19th 2009, 20:16
A horror story indeed.
I agree with S. Falzon that all these individuals need to be prayed for at the same time is a six month punishment enough? We are talking about innocent children who were abused by two adults who are incompetent, angry and rather dangerous to any society living.
Please allow me to honor the nuns, social workers and all those who had the courage to step up to help these children. And for those who still believe that beating are children is a good form of dicipline, please stop and think the next time you get upset at your child and instead of striking take a deep breath and count to ten then walk away.
J Pace
Feb 19th 2009, 20:01
DISGUSTING!!! Such brutal individuals!! The punishment wasn't enough!! How can a mother who carried her child in her womb for 9 months do something so horrible? Why wasn't she locked up? Giving children valium!!! Appalling
Joseph R Aquilina
Feb 19th 2009, 19:48
I sincerely hope that the Attorney General will appeal from these ultra light sentences which do not seem to be proportionate to the crime.
J.Samhan
Feb 19th 2009, 17:59
Such a sad story that really makes you stop & think , how come such parents can ever do such horrible things to their own children, I really hope these children will find a home to give them peace, love & tranquility cause they really deserve it. God help them through such a bad time in their lives and hope they will understand that life can offer them much more than the cruelness they have received till now.
Jean Marc Boyde
Feb 19th 2009, 15:55
I just read this very sad story. These children should be placed with caring foster parents who would love their own family.
joe felice pace
Feb 19th 2009, 15:29
It's a ridiculous punishment. If the Court could not give a harsher sentence on such inhuman brutaility on defenceless children, then the law should be amended as fast as possible.
Ivy Simmons
Feb 19th 2009, 15:26
So this kind of abuse doesn't only happens in the UK it clearly shows that child abuse happens also in a small country like Malta, one live and learn., i remember a while back reading something about some convent with a more or less a similar case. Mrs. Ivy Simmons (sunday school teacher)UK
Kaydee Zammit
Feb 19th 2009, 14:21
My heart bleeds for the children concerned. Is it really possible that no relatives had taken any notice of how the children were faring sooner than this, if it has been going on for a long time? I sincerely hope that they have found a caring home for them and will be well cared for and loved as they should have been by their parents in the first place. Sometimes it's hard to believe these things really do happen in this time and age, and place.
Franco Farrugia
Feb 19th 2009, 13:28
What a lenient sentence, to be sure.
Abusing an animal should attract a harsher sentence - imagine abusing human beings, and defenceless children, too!
grace cassar
Feb 19th 2009, 13:25
What a horrible story and in Malta. It brought tears to my eyes. Please do something about this. The poor children. I had hoped for better justice from the courts.
S Barbu
Feb 19th 2009, 13:22
As a mother who wraps her child in cotton wool, I feel really angry when I hear of such cases and even angrier that these people don't get to pay for what they did. A child is so innocent and needs our protection not to be beaten up. Poor kids.
Robert Caruana
Feb 19th 2009, 11:52
I hope that there are legal grounds for the Attorney General to appeal against what looks like a ridiculously lenient sentence.
Carmen V . Gauci
Feb 19th 2009, 11:48
I hope these unfortunate children have found a good home to take care of them.
EGauci
Feb 19th 2009, 11:24
'In handing down judgment, Magistrate .........took into consideration etc etc etc
then they are served 6 months and a suspended sentence
Is this the law, or a joke??????????????
Leonard Perkins
Feb 19th 2009, 10:54
I just cannot believe that such people exist in our society, I have twins aged 3 and I feel guilty when I have to raise my voice. How can you harm such delicate and defenseless children and infants in this circumstance. Sick is the word and the sentence is a joke!!!
edward bartolo
Feb 19th 2009, 10:43
Do you know that there are still parents, who believe that beating to teach a lesson, is sometimes the only way?
Beating and violence will only result into violent adults!
tania parascandalo
Feb 19th 2009, 10:22
When I used to hear the foreign news reporting such incidents, I used ti thank God that I lived in this country. My eyes were closed or maybe because I am a mother of four who tried and is still trying to give the profoundest love to my children.
When I heard this shocking news I opened my eyes and said to myself that Malta is in the same world and we have the same problems.
I was shocked by the sentence, though. These poor children are much better living with the nuns and given psychatric help to try and prevent more problems occuring due to the mal treatment they received from their "parents"
God help these children and others like them.
J Galea
Feb 19th 2009, 10:04
Where have the children been staying since 2002? Where they left in the mother's care?
J Brown
Feb 19th 2009, 09:23
But why, why such a light sentence for such a monsterous 'parental' treatment of innocent young children ? I fail to understand legal logic anymore .
S. Falzon
Feb 19th 2009, 09:17
I hope that the children are either in the care of other family members or with the nuns. As always they are the victims and the ones that suffer the most. I can never understand how a mother can inflict such treatment on her own children.
She obviously needs help very badly. Will keep them all in my prayers.