Assault leaves boy bruised

A man who hit a 4-year-old boy, leaving him with extensive bruising, was sentenced in the Masterton District Court yesterday to six months' supervision.

Stanley James Spence, 63, of Masterton, pleaded guilty to one charge of assault on a child.

The court heard the child's mother had returned home on September 7 to find her former partner had hit her 4-year-old son, bruising him extensively.

On her arrival Spence had admitted hitting the boy with "some force". The boy was "problematically difficult" and had refused to speak to Spence, lawyer Peter Stevens said.

Judge Tony Walsh said Spence was in a position of trust and what he had done was unacceptable. "There was a young child who suffered violence directly at your hands."

Spence was no longer in a relationship with the boy's mother and Judge Walsh accepted that was difficult.

The judge convicted Spence and sentenced him to six months' supervision with special conditions such as attending a stopping-violence programme. In 1994 Spence had been jailed for a similar crime, and had assault convictions from the 1970s.