Man sentenced for 'stringing up' girl

A South Canterbury man strung up a 11-year-old girl to a beam after she refused to have a bath, a court was told yesterday.

Christopher William Hunt, 48, an invalid beneficiary, of Waimate, was sentenced in Timaru District Court to three months home detention for ill-treating a child, The Timaru Herald reported.

The court was told Hunt and the girl, who was not his child, had been spreading pig manure when he asked her to take a bath before the pair went into town.

When she refused Hunt grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to the decking outside the house.

Using a length of rope that was on the deck, he tied the girl's hands together above her head, then slung the rope over a beam to leave her "virtually suspended" over the decking.

She was unable to untie herself and was left for at least a minute.

In explanation to police, Hunt said, "we were just playing around".

Defence lawyer Campbell Savage said the offending was at the lower end of the scale as the incident was "fleeting" and the child did not suffer any physical injuries.

He said Hunt had been concerned that if the child was not cleaned she may become ill from the substance they had used spreading the manure.

The victim impact report said the child had suffered pronounced emotional effects from the incident, including nightmares and panic attacks.

- NZPA