A FATHER who physically abused his two children was jailed yesterday - after the youngsters called in police themselves.

Newport crown court heard the Newport 34-year-old:

  • Hit his son with a broom handle for not tidying his room;
  • Punched the boy after accusing him of smoking;
  • Slammed on the brakes in his car while his then seven-year-old daughter was in the front seat without a seatbelt after she asked to go to the toilet - meaning the girl slammed her head against his windscreen;
  • Threw the girl to the floor after she fell asleep on a sofa and threw a video at her when her wardrobe was untidy.
  • Made her stand on one leg with her arms outstretched, telling her if she moved he would hit her.

The father admitted eight counts of cruelty to a person under 16, four against his son, four against his daughter, and was jailed for 22 months.

Prosecutor Leighton Hughes said the offences took place between June 2003 and January 2008, after the children were put in their father’s care while their mother was being investigated by social services.

Mr Hughes said the children asked the police to stop them living with their father and getting hurt all the time and the son told officers their dad could not be bothered to care for them.

Andrew Jones, mitigating, said the man took over the care of the children at “a very difficult time for everyone” and he “bitterly regrets his inability to provide the support and proper care that they needed.”

Judge David Morris told the defendant: “Every parent knows children can be provocative and annoying and can present major difficulties, but nevertheless every parent needs to know that a father who resorts to this kind of violence is nothing more than a coward and a bully.”

The man was sentenced to 12 months for the offences against his son and a consecutive 10 months for those involving his daughter.

He was also disqualified from working with children.