Three children were beaten and suffered cruel punishments during a campaign of abuse in Dundee.
A court heard how two of the children were forced to stand against a wall and hold two-litre bottles of juice with their arms outstretched.
Robi MacBain, 35, has admitted responsibility for attacking and wilfully ill-treating the children over a nine-year period.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard how the youngsters were repeatedly threatened with punishment by MacBain, who admitted hitting them while “boxing” with them.
Punishments
The first child was attacked on various occasions over more than four years.
The court was told how MacBain used his fingers to compress the child’s eye.
The youngster was kicked to the body, slapped on the face and had his groin slapped during this time.
Over the same period of time, MacBain pushed a second child on the body, causing them to fall backwards.
MacBain, of Dundee, struck the child on the leg with a belt.
Prosecutor Andrew Harding described the forms of punishment MacBain would dish out.
“Two of the children were left in the accused’s care and were placed against a living room wall, with each holding a two-litre bottle filled with juice,” he said.
Cut up toys and belted table
Police and social workers were later contacted and one of the children was spoken to at primary school.
The child was asked if they knew why they were speaking to them and replied asking if it was “about the man who had been abusing me?”
The child said MacBain made them lie on the floor, as well as slapping them on the face while boxing.
MacBain was said to strike a belt off a kitchen table to demonstrate what would happen if the children did not behave.
On one occasion, he cut up one child’s favourite toys in an act of punishment.
Bail warning
First offender MacBain pled guilty to the offences on an amended indictment on the week he was due to stand trial.
Defence counsel Charles Ferguson urged Sheriff Paul Brown to continue his client’s bail while social work reports are prepared, adding his client suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Sentence was deferred until August and MacBain’s bail order was continued, albeit with the warning from Sheriff Brown: “You should understand I will require to consider all options so it’s important you cooperate with the process.”
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