A father must pay $15 000 in compensation to his daughter after placing her hand on a lit stove burner as punishment for stealing almost six years ago.
In addition, Madam Justice Laurie-Ann Smith-Bovell sentenced Albert Anecitus to two years and 363 days of imprisonment but suspended the sentence for three years.
“The court recognises that while parents have the right to discipline their children, that discipline should never be to the level of abuse – and let there be no doubt that what happened in this case is abuse,” she said in Supreme Court No. 4 on Thursday.
The father, a resident of St Paul’s Avenue, Bayville, St Michael, had pleaded not guilty to the more serious charge of causing serious bodily harm with intent to maim, disfigure or disable his 12-year-old child but admitted to unlawfully and maliciously inflicting serious bodily harm on her on July 17, 2018.
Citing Article 9 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child, the judge said governments must do all they can to protect children from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect and bad treatment by their parents or anyone else who looks after them.
“No matter how frustrated a parent may be about the anti-social predilection of a child to steal, the answer to that problem can never be abuse. There are agencies like the Probation Department, the Juvenile Liaison Scheme, and PAREDOS to assist parents with these challenges,” Justice Smith-Bovell pointed out.
Saying that a custodial sentence was justified in the case, she outlined the aggravating factors of the offence, including the child’s age, that the crime was committed by her father who has the responsibility of protecting her, the type of injury inflicted, the father’s decision to send the girl’s brother out of the kitchen so he could not witness the act, and the fact he did not seek medical attention for her or inform her mother that she had been injured. The sole mitigating factor was that the man placed his daughter’s hand in cold water and ice after the incident, which would have reduced the degree of the burn.
With the aggravating factors outweighing the mitigating ones, the judge gave a starting point of six years.
She noted the mitigating factors of the offender, including his remorse, clean criminal record, cooperation with the police and positive pre-sentence report showing him at a low risk of reoffending. No aggravating factors were found.
As a result, his sentence was reduced by 18 months before a further deduction was made for his early guilty plea. He had spent no time on remand.
Acknowledging the desire of the now 17-year-old victim to rebuild a connection with her father and her request that he not be incarcerated for the offence, the judge said the court was of the view that the relationship should be maintained and, therefore, applied Section 6 of the Penal Reform Act to allow the jail sentence to be suspended.
In ordering the compensation, the judge noted that the virtual complainant had several surgeries and was left with a scar on her hand.
“A scar which, every time she looks at it, will remind her that her father, the person who is supposed to guide and protect her, is the person who inflicted it on her. The scar also serves as a reminder for the rest of her life as to the reason why he did it when she may no longer be that person today. In light of the injuries and the physical, psychological and emotional pain suffered by the complainant, the court considers the sum of $15 000 to be reasonable compensation in the circumstances,” Justice Smith-Bovell said.
She ordered him to pay $8 000 forthwith, with the balance to be settled by October 31. Failure to do so would see him heading to Dodds Prison for just shy of three years – two years and 363 days.
Albert was also instructed to undergo counselling provided either through the Barbados Youth Advance Corps, the Probation Department, or PAREDOS, to help repair the relationship with his daughter.
The court heard that the complainant had purchased several items from a shop and hid the change upon returning home. Later that day, her uncle said money was missing from his vehicle. After being questioned by her father, the girl confessed that she had taken the money. She returned it to her uncle who then left the house.
Her father then took her into the kitchen, lit one of the burners and grabbed her left hand which he put over the flame. As the pre-teen screamed, he pressed her hand down on the burner. He then put the burned hand under running water as he told his daughter that was her punishment for stealing.
The case will be reviewed on May 31.
State Counsel Kevin Forde prosecuted the matter while defence attorney Steve Gollop represented Albert.
