Dad jailed for torturing his sons during summer visitation (Derbyshire, England)

There's a back story here that's not being told. Why did UNNAMED DAD have summer visitation? Was it court ordered? Are you seriously going to tell us that this father had no history of this kind of torture behavior before? Or was it simply ignored by the authorities?

http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/Dad-kept-son-locked-room-thrashed-2ft-screwdriver/story-15332669-detail/story.html

Dad kept son locked in room and thrashed him with a 2ft screwdriver

Monday, February 27, 2012 Derby Telegraph

A FATHER who "tortured" his son over a two-week period, forcing him to stay in his room and hitting him with a 2ft screwdriver and a piece of wire, has been jailed.

The man, who is in his 30s, fed the boy only bread for a week and a half and, for two days, made him go to the toilet in a bucket inside his room.

​The Derby father, who cannot be named because it would identify the boy, also hung his 12-year-old son out of a window, dragged him across the floor and punched him.

After the beatings, he forced the boy into ice-cold baths.

Derby Crown Court heard that the man had carried out the abuse after he became frustrated with his son for lying to him.

Jailing the man for three years, Recorder David Mason QC told him: "Anyone listening to the facts in this case would be horrified at the way you treated your own son.

"It was not a one-off incident – in a flash of anger – but a persistent course of conduct over a two-week period, through which you effectively tortured your son."

Prosecutor Sarah Slater said the boy, who usually lived with his mother, had gone to stay with his dad last summer.

She said that, the day after he arrived, his father woke him by slapping his face, then dragged him out of the bed by his ankle and punched him.

He then told him to go back to his room and stay there. Miss Slater said that, two hours later, the man made his son stand against a wall while he hit him on the back of his legs and hands with a 2ft screwdriver.

"He said he couldn't walk because of this, so his father put ice in a bath and made him sit in it," said Miss Slater.

The court heard that the boy had also been made to stand against the wall, while he was hit with a piece of wire.

The beatings caused the boy's legs to bleed.

Miss Slater said the boy was left in his room for about one-and-a-half weeks, with just bread to eat, and he felt like he was in prison.

The boy also said that, on his final day there, before his mother went to collect him because she became concerned, his father had strangled him.

A doctor examined him and found he had scratch marks on his neck and abrasions all over his body.The man admitted cruelty to a child by ill treatment and two charges of assault causing actual bodily harm.

His lawyer Chudi Grant said: "It wasn't planned or premeditated.

"In daily life, children present difficulties. He started to try to get to grips with his son's behaviour.

"He sat down and spoke to him to get to the bottom of his behaviour and lies were told to him.

"His frustration spilled over in a totally inappropriate and grossly wrong way. He is deeply remorseful for the suffering he caused."

The court heard that the man had been brought up with "harsh, physical punishment" and, to him, it was normal.