Father assaulted developmentally disabled son at petrol station – court of appeal upholds conviction
A fifty-year-old father struck and manhandled his developmentally disabled son at an ABC petrol station. Turku Court of Appeal upheld the assault conviction but reduced the fine.
Assault of developmentally disabled boy at petrol station leads to court of appeal ruling
Iltalehti reported on a case in which a fifty-year-old father assaulted his developmentally disabled son at an ABC petrol station approximately two years ago. The father held the 15-year-old boy by the chest, manhandled and struck him several times on the upper body.
The boy, whose developmental level corresponded to that of a three-year-old, had become angry after receiving a negative response to his request for a hamburger. The situation escalated when the boy tried to follow his mother to the petrol station from the car park.
Several eyewitnesses reported seeing the father roughing up and hitting the child. After the boy fell to the ground, the father kicked him in the side. The father himself denied striking or kicking the boy and claimed he had acted out of necessity to restrain the boy's aggressive behaviour.
Kanta-Häme District Court found the eyewitnesses' accounts more credible than the father's explanation. The court found that there was no serious dangerous situation that would have justified such treatment. The district court stated that the father would have had the opportunity to handle the situation appropriately. The father was sentenced to 50 day fines, equivalent to 800 euros, and was ordered to pay his son 500 euros in compensation for temporary harm.
The father appealed the conviction to Turku Court of Appeal, demanding that the charges be dismissed. In its recent ruling, the Court of Appeal upheld the assault conviction: the father had seized the boy by the chest, manhandled him and struck him several times on the upper body. However, the Court of Appeal dismissed the charges relating to striking the head and kicking the side.
The sentence was reduced to 25 day fines, equivalent to 350 euros. The father is also required to reimburse the state for thousands of euros in legal costs.
Source: Iltalehti