Dad caught abusing 5-month-old son after baby's aunt catches him on video (Wales)

UNNAMED DAD is a dickwad. That is all.

http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/Dad-accused-child-cruelty-son-s-aunt-set-phone/story-20997592-detail/story.html

Dad accused of child cruelty after son's aunt set up phone to record him

By South Wales Evening Post | Posted: April 23, 2014

A DAD has gone on trial accused of cruelty after his son's aunt set up her iPhone to capture him allegedly assaulting his son.

The prosecution say he took "malicious satisfaction" from bullying the five-month-old.

His partner's sister told police she set her phone to video the man while he was left alone with the baby.

The aunt said she wanted to get to the bottom of why the baby had started regularly getting upset when left alone with his father.

The father denies the charge of cruelty at Swansea Crown Court, saying the actions he took against his sleeping child were to check if he was still breathing.

He said the first, a push of the head, was to move the sleeping baby's head away from him in case he woke, saw him and began crying.

The rest all took place within around a minute.

The alleged assault took place while the baby's mother, sister and her partner, were outside smoking.

They had left the baby sleeping in a bouncer chair, but shortly after going outside, when they heard the child crying, they came back inside.

In opening the case to the jury, prosecutor Patrick Griffiths said the baby had been "causing no problem at all" but that the video showed the dad: "repeatedly and roughly moving his head for no good reason.

As if he wanted to get the baby to cry, deriving some sort of malicious satisfaction from bullying this little boy and getting this satisfaction out of what he was doing, quite unnecessarily."

Giving evidence to the court, the mother said she initially felt sorry for her partner because he worked away and thought he had not bonded well with the baby.

But she said she noticed the baby would always cry or curl his legs up when left alone with his dad.

After her sister showed her the video she told him to leave.

John Hipkin, representing the dad, asked the child's mother about her relationship with her now-former partner.

She said during her pregnancy her partner had been supportive, but that once he left his job, around six weeks before the incident, he "didn't bother" with the child.

The trial continues.