A Co Tyrone housewife who placed her four year old son in a bath of cold water for 45 minutes as punishment for wetting and soiling himself has been given a four month suspended jail sentence. The 28 year old Dungannon mother of four initially denied placing the child in the freezing bath water, but later pleaded guilty to cruelty.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also admitted assaulting another son, aged eight, whom she had repeatedly beaten on the bottom with a leather strap for using foul language.
The case was heard at Cookstown Magistrates' Court earlier this year and the court was told that the four year old boy had been found in the cold bath by his stepfather on St Patrick's Day last year. A doctor was called and he was taken to the South Tyrone Hospital, where he was found to have a body temperature 12 degrees below normal.
After consideration of psychiatric and social services reports, the magistrate, Mr Maurice McHugh, adjourned the case for three months. When the case again came before the court again yesterday, Mr Austin Kennedy, defending, said that the woman had been cooperating fully with social services and that her home situation was being closely monitored.