North Lanarkshire, Scotland, May 21, 1999 (Lifesitenews.com) – A Scottish primary school teacher is expected to be fired after being found guilty of assault this week for spanking his seven-year-old daughter.
The father was at the dentist’s office and was battling his daughter over having a tooth extracted. He ended up putting her over his knee and spanking her seven times after pulling down her pants. The medical staff called social services to report the incident.
The judge ruling on the case argued that he had “no difficulty in concluding that [what was used] was not reasonable force.”
The father, who pleaded not guilty to the charge of assault, told reporters: “This was not a matter of punishment. I was trying to coerce her to have her tooth out. She had been crying on my pillow for two days and she sobbed into my pillow until midnight even with a full dose of Calpol. I took a taxi to the police station and I confessed right from the start I went over the top. There are so many cases like this that happen but they just melt away.” “This has had a traumatic effect on my family,” he continued, “but we can never underestimate the resilience of children. My daughter and I are so happy together. We are so close to each other. My daughter is a brave lassie and I also have the best wife. I am a concerned father and I think I am a very good father. If I had gone to the pub on Christmas Eve instead of taking my daughter to the dentist, I would not have been in court.”