Mother hit her young son on the head with cricket bat when he didn’t tidy him room, court told
A mother hit her young son on the head and body with a cricket bat when he didn’t tidy up his bedroom, a court had heard.
At the Family Law Court sitting in a provincial town today, the judge granted an emergency care order to the Child and Family Agency TUSLA in respect of the boy.
The judge said that the seven-day emergency care order “was warranted in all of the circumstances” for the primary school child.
TUSLA was making the care order application after Gardai invoked emergency powers following a flash-point involving the boy yesterday.
In uncontested evidence at the court today, a Garda gave evidence that she called to the boy’s mother’s home yesterday to tell her that her son had been involved in an incident earlier that day where there were fears for his safety.
The female Garda told the court: “We explained why we were there and she didn’t seem to care, to be honest with you. I told her that her son was in an ambulance and that he was freaking out and needs his Mum.”
The Garda said that the mother replied: ‘Well, there is nothing wrong with him. I have other things to be doing’. The Garda told the court: “She basically refused to come with us.”
The Garda brought the boy to a nearby hospital for him to undergo a general check-up.
The Garda told the court: “He is a nice little boy and if he was given time with a family to look after him he would be fine. I felt sorry for him.”
The boy’s social worker also gave evidence and revealed that the boy was previously the subject of emergency powers in February “due to the issue of physical abuse and mother neglecting the needs of the child”.
The social worker met with the boy in the hospital yesterday “and he recounted a number of incidents where he was hit by his mother”.
The social worker said that last Monday “after school, his mother was angry he hadn’t done his chores - hoovering and tidying his room. He told me that she took a cricket bat and hit him on his left elbow, his left shoulder, on the back and on the top of the head with the cricket bat.”
The social worker said that she asked the mother about the alleged assault and the mother denied hitting him, saying that her son was lying.
The social worker said that a hospital doctor examined the boy’s head but found no marks or anything usual. The social worker said: “The boy said that it hurt at the time.”
The social worker said that on another morning this week, the boy said that his mother deliberately broke a toy he had been given by his foster carer.
She said that another social worker spoke to the mother about the alleged cricket bat assault on Monday and the mother’s reply was ‘some secrets should be kept’.
The social worker said that the boy's mother was told about the court proceedings but said that she had the flu and wouldn’t be attending.
The social worker said that the boy is now back with the foster carer he was with in February and is happy there.
She said: “He had a very good evening there yesterday, slept well and went to school happy today”.
