A retired midwife told a jury she used a belt to hit children as punishment but gave it up because she “didn’t like it”.
Midwife Avril Campbell and her Mormon Bishop husband Dennis Campbell have both admitted belting young children on a number of occasions as a punishment.
They are on trial in Dundee, accused of assaulting two children – a boy and a girl – around 40 years ago.
Avril Campbell told the jury she used the belt four times when she was “disappointed” with the youngsters and “got better at it” after initially being “useless”.
‘I sometimes got disappointed’
Giving evidence in her defence on Friday, she said: “I don’t remember getting angry.
“I sometimes got disappointed with them. They were children.
“I would smack his hand, smack his bottom, tell him off.
“I used the belt four times. I was only doing it a wee bit.
“I have said that I did try it and I didn’t like it.
“The first time I was useless at it.
“I got better at it but it was never more than four times.
“Four times I used the belt and I gave it up because I didn’t think it was good.”
She told the trial at Dundee Sheriff Court she had heard her husband admit in evidence that he had belted children but said: “He said he had but I never saw him.”
The female complainer described Mrs Campbell as a “tyrant” who would use her husband as “an enforcer” to belt the children when he returned from the Mormon church at night.
She said: “When we were in trouble we would get hit with the belt.
“Both would use the belt. [Dennis] was more effective – she struggled to get a good whip on it.”
Bishop admitted belting children
Dennis Campbell, formerly a prison nurse at Castle Huntly, said he could not remember exactly why he had punished the children but said it was likely to have been for “hyperactivity or lying”.
He branded one of his accusers “a compulsive liar” and said he had hit the children on a number of occasions but denied it was on a daily basis.
He told the jury he could remember using a belt to strike the boy and girl on their bare buttocks but said it was “very rare.”
He said it would be “for hyperactivity or lying. I felt justified at the time”.
He added: “I know in today’s climate we are in a different world now. When I look back now it was all wrong.”
He admitted texting the female complainer, now 52, and telling her: “I did make a mess of it back then and I do hope the healing continues with you.”
He left a voicemail for the male complainer, also now 52 and said: “I’m just doing a lot of reflection on my life.”
He told the court the man replied: “You’re a good guy Dennis – it was Avril that was the tyrant.”
Charges denied
Dennis Campbell, 74, and his wife Avril, 77, are accused of attacking and neglecting children at addresses around Dundee and Angus between 1976 and 1990.
Evidence in the trial has been concluded.
Both accused deny the charges against them and the trial, before Sheriff Paul Brown, continues.
