‘A flogging’: Central Queensland mum pins daughter, 12, to the ground, kicks her twice in the stomach

A Central Queensland mother smacked her daughter in the head several times and kicked her after she didn’t clean her bedroom. When the police prosecutor tendered the woman’s criminal history in court, he said: “It sounds like there’s some major trauma in that family.”

A Central Queensland court has heard about a shocking case of domestic violence against a 12-year-old girl. Generic image.

A Central Queensland mother who dished out “highly inappropriate” physical discipline on her young daughter, including smacking her in the head and kicking her in the stomach, is now on a supervision order.

The 34-year-old, who by law cannot be named, pleaded guilty in Biloela Magistrates Court on February 9 to unlawful assault (domestic violence offence).

The court heard the woman’s offending happened at a locality in the North Burnett region on December 20 last year.

Police Prosecutor Sergeant Kevin Ongheen said about 6.48pm on that day, police attended a residence in relation to a disturbance.

“Police saw a young female standing at the front of the property, who was clearly upset and crying,” Sgt Ongheen said.

That young female was the victim, the woman’s 12-year-old daughter.

Sgt Ongheen said when police asked the girl what had happened, she said she had been sitting on the couch when her mum started yelling at her.

“The (girl) stated that (her mum) was pointing at her with her fingers, and she didn’t know what to do, so she slapped (her mum’s) hand out of her face,” he said.

Sgt Ongheen said the girl told police that her mum then hit her on the top of the head “in a smacking motion several times”.

“So she (girl) kicked her mother away.”

Sgt Ongheen said the mother then grabbed her daughter “pinning her to the ground” where she kicked the girl twice in the stomach.

He said the girl managed to push her mum away, only for her mum to “come back at her again”.

Sgt Ongheen said the girl tried to get away and that’s when a male witness said to the mother: “Alright that’s enough”.

When police spoke to the mum about what had happened, she explained.

“She (mum) stated one of the conditions of (her daughter) staying at her grandparents’ place was that, when she went home, she was to clean her bedroom,” Sgt Ongheen said.

“The (mum) stated that when (her daughter) arrived home from her grandparents’ place, she went straight to her room and immediately grabbed her phone and started using it.

“The (mum) said to (her daughter) that she needed to clean her bedroom, just like her grandmother also told her to do.

“However when (the mum) said this, the (daughter) started verbally abusing her mother, calling her derogatory names, telling her to ‘give her a f---ing break’.”

Sgt Ongheen said the mum explained that was when she started pointing her finger at her daughter.

The mum said her daughter then slapped her hand “out of the way three times” and the mother said she then slapped her daughter.

The mum said her daughter retaliated by kicking her “twice in the guts” and that was when she started to give her daughter “a flogging”.

When Sgt Ongheen tendered the mother’s criminal history, it was not explained but he told Magistrate Philippa Beckinsale: “It sounds like there’s some major trauma in that family.”

Sgt Ongheen sought for a conviction to be recorded as there had been convictions recorded in the past, and he also asked for the mother to be placed on a period of probation.

Magistrate Beckinsale explained to the mother, who appeared in court via phone and who was very emotional throughout the proceedings, that probation would see her supervised and the mother agreed to such an order being made.

Ms Beckinsale placed the woman on six months’ probation with conditions and said the physical discipline that had been used in this incident with a 12-year-old was “highly inappropriate”.

A conviction was recorded.