Man charged with ‘branding’ children with a soldering gun

A criminal court yesterday heard how a father in his early 40s would allegedly beat his three children, aged 10, 12 and 14, on a regular basis - sometimes kicking the older son in the groin wearing safety boots; and on some occasions marking the children on the forearm with a soldering gun.

Evidence against the father was brought before Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona, who heard Police Inspectors Louise Calleja and Priscilla Caruana recount the events which led them to arrest him and have him charged with causing grievous bodily harm to his three children.

The name of the accused is withheld on court order.

Inspectors Calleja and Caruana informed the court that they had acted on a report made by officials at Dar Merħba Bik, after a mother sought shelter with her children over repeated domestic violence.

A court appointed expert then read out her report into the findings arising from her interviews with the accused's two sons and a daughter.

Child psychologist Mariella Mangion reported that she noticed a crescent shaped mark on one of the boy's and the girl's forearm, which both said was made by their father using a soldering gun.

While explaining that the children were "highly traumatised" Mangion said that she found the children to be bruised and scratched all over.

The eldest son was found to have a dark blue bruise on his groin after he was allegedly kicked hard by his father wearing safety shoes.

According to Mangion's findings, the children suffered bruising to their rib cage, their upper and lower backs, around their necks and arms.

The father's case was originally brought before the family court, but was subsequently forwarded to the criminal court for prosecution after the children's injuries were considered to be grievous.

The daughter was also reported to have had patches of hair pulled out from her scalp.

The father, who is currently on bail, had previous convictions for domestic violence and had attended therapy for anger management.

He has been ordered to keep away from Dar Merhba Bik and prohibited from approaching his wife and children.

During cross examination, lawyer Arthur Azzopardi argued that during the investigations, nobody had ever diagnosed his client's medical and psychiatric history.

Azzopardi said that the father was a victim of a brutal upbringing by his own father, and also suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

He requested that in the next sittings, the court appoint experts to examine his client.