Father uses Bible to defend attack on son

A man who disciplined his son by hitting him with an alkathene pipe believed he was following the practice laid down in the Bible, a court was told yesterday.

The man, who has name suppression to protect the identity of his school-age son, was to have been sentenced in New Plymouth District Court yesterday on charges of assaulting a child and assault with a blunt instrument.

But Judge Allan Roberts delayed sentencing until March 19 and called for a new probation report after he was told the man now accepted he must change his ways, The Taranaki Daily News reported.

The man's lawyer, Paul Keegan said father resorted to the physical discipline only after a "high level of provocation".

The boy had stolen $1100 from his father and flashed it around school. He had also solicited donations in what was a sophisticated fraud for a boy of his age.

The father had been at his wits' end with his son's behaviour. The boy suffered no injuries and the father had made an early guilty plea, Mr Keegan said. The boy had been taken from his care by Child, Youth and Family, causing his client a tremendous amount of sadness.

The premise of spare the rod and spoil the child came from the Bible and was the traditional belief of many who still believed in physical punishment and that the state should not interfere in the way children should be brought up, Mr Keegan said.

It would take society a long time to make the change.

Judge Roberts that he would have no compunction in jailing a man who assaulted his wife in the same way.

"This involves kicking and hitting with an alkathene pipe," the judge said.

Judge Roberts said he was concerned that the father had told the probation officer that he would not change. The father had said: "I won't moderate my behaviour. I see no wrong in using violence."

Mr Keegan said his client's letter to the judge now acknowledged that the rules the father had been brought up with had all changed.

- NZPA