Man beats daughter over spoiled fish

A Corporate Area man, who admitted to assaulting his teenage daughter over spoiled fish, elicited the wrath of a senior parish judge when he had trouble remembering the ages of all his children.

Senior Parish Judge Sanchia Burrell was already peeved by Verrick Hamilton's guilty plea to one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, but was further incensed when aspects of his parenting came to light. Hamilton told the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Tuesday that he only slapped the complainant for being disrespectful to him. It was revealed that the child resides with another relative. Her mother's whereabouts are not known.

"You never raise her, that's why she give trouble. You created a dysfunctional family and want her now to obey your rules. You don't know the first thing about parenting. This poor little 13-year-old is in a lot of trouble because you went out and have children and didn't organise yourself first," Judge Burrell expressed.

"You are doing the child a great injustice; it is worse than the punch you gave her. The first duty and responsibility you have for your child is to choose a good mother. The mother is not even around. She (the child) doesn't even live in your house. How many children you have?" Judge Burrell probed. Hamilton responded that he is a father of four, but began stuttering as he started to indicate their ages.

"You are struggling to remember your children's age. You didn't even sign up to the JAMAL programme to ensure that you and your children can read. What do you expect? The child is going to be in trouble because the parent is giving trouble," the judge said.

Reports are that Hamilton instructed his daughter to put bags of fish into the fridge. However, he discovered that the fish began rotting.

"I told her that when she should put them in the fridge, however, the fridge never plug in," the child's guardian said.

"But you see you telling her to plug in the fridge and not to put in the fish yet. The poor child," the senior jurist said. After he discovered the rotting fish, Hamilton reportedly punched the complainant in her face, causing bruising and swelling.

Hamilton and the child were ordered to attend the victim support unit at the Family Court for counselling and are to return to court on September 3, when the matter is set for mention.