Father ‘pardoned’ for assault charge after disciplining son

Our client had physically disciplined his 3-year-old son by smacking him on the legs approximately 20 times over a period of two hours. Four months later, his son’s mother reported the event to DCP as a retaliatory vindictive measure and our client was charged with aggravated assault occasioning bodily harm. After taking instructions and assessing the various ways we could proceed having primary regard to achieving the most desirable outcome for our client, we advised our client to plead guilty to the charge on the basis that the nature of the assault was unreasonable given the child’s age. At sentencing, the Magistrate accepted our submission that our client had gained significant insight into his actions by taking parenting classes and was unlikely to react to a situation of misbehaviour in a like manner again. Not only did the Magistrate impose a suspended fine, he granted our client’s application for a spent conviction order.