Dad who hit 13-y-o daughter with stick fined by Toowoomba court

A Toowoomba man struck his young teenage daughter with a stick so hard it broke in half and left a 10cm x 5cm welt on her thigh.

The man said his frustrations got the better of him and smacked his daughter with a stick.

A Toowoomba man struck his teenage daughter with a stick so hard it broke in half and left a large welt on her thigh.

The 13-year-old girl and her two sisters, aged 11 and 15, had been at the home of their father and his partner during an access visit on the weekend of March 6, Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard.

When the 11-year-old girl starting fighting with the eight-year-old stepson of her father, he had made her skip rope as a form of punishment, police prosecutor Rohan Brewster-Webb told the court.

However, when their father saw the 13-year-old girl walk in eating a packet of chips which she had not asked permission for, her father berated her for snacking so close to dinner and ordered her to skip with her sister.

The teen refused and walked off followed by her father who had grabbed a 50cm long stick which he pointed in her face, prompting her to push it away.

The 44-year-old then struck his daughter on the left thigh with the stick, which broke in half and left a 10cm x 5cm bruise on the girl’s thigh.

Later as the girl sat on the floor icing her thigh, her father walked in saying “If you want to act like an animal, I’ll treat you like a f***ing animal” and ordered her to skip.

The teen cried while skipping and asked for her puffer to which her father replied “I’ll give you your puffer when you collapse”, Mr Brewster-Webb said.

The court heard the man had some hours later sat his daughters down and apologised.

He pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm while armed.

His solicitor Andrea Hohn, of CLO Lawyers, said her client had no criminal history at all and had acted out of frustration.

The victim and her mother had gone to police some six weeks after the event and her client’s ex-wife and the children had said he was not normally violent.

Child Safety officers had investigated the incident and had concluded there was no further risk to the children, she said.

Her client had since done a number of courses to improve himself, Ms Hohn said.

Acting Magistrate Roger Stark accepted the offending was “out of character”.

“But you went far too far on this occasion,” he said.

Without recording a conviction, Mr Stark fined the man $600.