Dad swings at Mum, but hits 8-month-old daughter (Hartlepool, England, United Kingdom)

Dad DANIEL HUNTER got all bent when Mum said not to wake the baby, so he threw a couple of swings at Mum and managed to strike the 8-month-old daughter in the leg. Not surprisingly, Dad has a history of hitting the mother. Although Dad admitted to two counts of assault, all he'll get in terms of punishment are some touchy-feely courses on domestic violence and anger management (usually regarded as ineffective by most research).

http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/Dad-swung-at-partner-but.5645138.jp

Dad swung at partner but hit tot

14 September 2009
By Mark Thompson

A TEENAGE dad who swung punches at his partner struck their eight-month-old daughter during the violent outburst.

Daniel Hunter hit out at Vicky Folland after she accused him of waking their eight-month-old baby Kyra Hunter.

But the 19-year-old became aggressive and shouted a torrent of abuse before hitting Miss Folland on the leg.

His second blow missed the mum of his child, but caught Kyra on her right leg, leaving her "extremely distressed" but with no lasting damage.

Hunter, of Raeburn Street, Hartlepool, admitted to two counts of assault on September 6 at Hartlepool Magistrates' Court.

Town justices adjourned his sentencing for three weeks for probation reports but told Hunter he should expect a community order with anger management and domestic violence courses.

Lilian Atkinson, prosecuting, said: "They were lying in bed at 8.10am when they began arguing about the defendant keeping the baby awake.

"He became offensive and abusive, so she got out of bed and picked up the daughter.

"He has then punched Vicky on the left leg and punched the child on the right leg. The child became extremely distressed."

She added that Miss Folland, who is no longer living with Hunter, told police in interview that she had been hit by Hunter in the past but had never reported the attacks.

Beatrice Brown, mitigating, said: "This is a young man of previous good character, this is the first time he has found himself in court. He accepts there was a verbal exchange and he admits hitting her.

"He says she has then lunged at him so he has tried to hit her again but unfortunately he's hit the child."

Margaret Sleeman, the chairman of the magistrates bench, said the offence carried a low community penalty but because of the domestic violence involved a report was needed to discover any underlying problems.

She added: "The aggravating factor is you abused your position of trust, and the offence included a minor.

"We find no mitigating factors. You were reckless and you inflicted pain."

Hunter will be back in court to be sentenced on October 5.