Mom beats son blind! - Shocking allegation leaves judge fuming

A Corporate Area man made a heart-wrenching revelation in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Thursday - his four-year-old son is now blind in one eye due to relentless beatings from the child's own mother.

The jaw-dropping allegations left the courtroom in stunned silence, and the case has now been referred to the Office of the Children's Advocate for urgent intervention.

It was reported that on September 27, neighbours of the defendant, who will not be named to protect the child, were heard saying, "Murder! Help! Yuh can done now!" The father made checks and while bathing the child, noticed swelling and bruising all over his body. Prosecutors contend that the child was beaten with a piece of board after he was seen pulling electrical wires from a wall by another relative. Images of the injuries that were sustained by the child were shared by the investigator. The mother was seen sitting in the police station. The court heard that the child was admitted to hospital for treatment.

"The mother is just sitting in the background, most unconcerned and unmoved. Mother, what happened?" Senior Parish Judge Sanchia Burrell probed.

"I was sleeping and my stepfather came home and saw him [the toddler] pulling the wires from the wall. I beat him Your Honour because I have been getting complaints that he is doing things he is not supposed to. He is climbing the stairs Your Honour," the mother explained, pleading guilty to child abuse and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

"You brutalised your child. You brutalised your child for doing things that a child does. Which child didn't pull out wires? You are blaming the child as justification for your cruelty," Burrell said.

The judge's fury then turned to the father, after he shared that it was the second time the mother flogged the child. However, the first incident was not reported to the police.

"Him actually blind, yuh know, Your Honour," the father shared.

"You know you could be charged with child neglect? You need to know what is going on with your child. Fathers are supposed to be there every day and you need to get over the fact that the mother is horrid and do your responsibility to take care of your child," Burrell said.

The senior jurist referred the child and father to the victims support branch, and a social enquiry report was made for the mother. A fingerprint order was made for the mother, who is to be sentenced February 4, 2025.