‘You have broken our daughter’: Man’s hideous abusive acts

For months a Mackay man beat and assaulted his nine-year-old daughter, including biting her until she bled, before shaving her head.

Janessa Ekert and janessa.ekert@dailymercury.com.au

2 min read

October 15, 2019 - 5:00AM

Police & Courts

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WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

A LITTLE girl - covered in bruises - tearfully cowers in fear as her father stands over her saying "shut the f*** up" and "I'll give you something to cry about soon".

The Mackay man has walked free from jail for hideous acts of violence against his nine-year-old daughter in what his lawyer labelled "thoroughly misguided" parenting.

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Over four months last year, while in her father's care, the child was beaten with a belt, had her nipples pinched so hard she bruised, bitten until she bled, lifted off the ground by her ears, punched her in the arms in time to music so hard she could not sleep that night and smacked her around the head multiple times for breathing too fast.

"You have broken our daughter, she is no longer the same," the girl's mother said tearfully as she read out a victim impact statement in Mackay District Court yesterday.

Crown Prosecutor Eddie Coker told the court as a "final indignity" he shaved her head.

"These offences involve persistent, gratuitous violence against a child," Mr Coker said.

Mr Coker said the dad once failed to pick his daughter up from school until 7pm at night, then slapped her across the face on the drive home.

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The court heard some the assaults had occurred in response to her fearfully admitting to hurting her younger brother, even though she had not.

Mr Coker said the police were called after she returned to visit her mother "covered in bruises … from the repeated abuse (he) subjected her to".

The court heard her father had "concocted a fanciful excuse" for the bruises, saying his daughter fell, then asked her mother "if she wanted to play hardball".

Her mother told the court the little girl was physically, mentally and emotionally scarred, flinching in fear when touched.

"She wanted to die at the age of nine," the woman said.

"This is something she is going to be fighting within herself for many many years."

Mr Coker pushed for three to four years jail describing it has deplorable behaviour that would be abhorred by any member of society.

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Defence barrister Scott McLennan argued against calling the offending gratuitous saying it was in relation to allegations the child had a tendency to hurt her younger brother and animals.

"He said he needed to nip it in the bud before it got worse," Mr McLennan said.

"Some of them are clearly excessive discipline, not gratuitous."

Mr McLennan said his client, aged in his 30s, twice had the "misguided notion … of teaching the (victim) empathy by assaulting (her) the same way that she had assaulted the younger brother".

"He had no real experience parenting two young children," Mr McLennan said.

"Despite this offending, my client loves his two children."

The man, who has spent 297 days in custody, pleaded guilty to eight offences including assault while armed, assault occasioning bodily harm and common assault.

Judge Brad Farr said the man's behaviour was an "extraordinarily gross breach of trust".

"Your job was to care for and protect that child," Judge Farr said.

"You have failed in that regard in the most hideous of ways.

"You have caused long term emotional and psychological harm to your child."

Ultimately Judge Farr was persuaded by Mr McLennan's arguments for penalty and the man was sentenced to 2.5 years jail with immediate parole.

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