Tasmanian child basher jailed

HOBART - A child basher with a long criminal record who gave his toddler daughter two black eyes after tying her limbs with a dressing gown cord and kicking her has been sentenced to 10 months jail in Tasmania.

Supreme Court Justice James Porter said the 20-year-old father had accumulated an extensive criminal record for dishonesty and violence, including aggravated armed robbery, before assaulting and tormenting his 21-month-old daughter over a 24-hour period in Hobart in March.

"This behaviour included laying her on the floor and tying her legs together with a dressing gown cord, pulling it tight, and then smacking her after she cried and asked for her mother," Justice Porter said in sentencing published on Tuesday.

The father, who cannot be named, also stood the toddler up several times with her feet tied, causing her to fall over and hit her head.

He also tied a headband tightly around her wrists, turning her hands purple and kicked her four to five times to the bottom and waist and abused her, throwing her onto a couch and then onto a bed.

"The child was later found with bruising around both eyes and a prominent bite mark on her left forearm," Justice Porter said.

"Medical examinations also revealed bruising and abrasions to her face, head, hands and legs."

Justice Porter said some account must be taken for the father's difficult upbringing and significant substance abuse problems.

But the daughter has now become emotionally troubled with behavioural problems as a result of the attack, Justice Porter said.

The father had earlier pleaded guilty to ill-treating a child.

Justice Porter sentenced him to 10 months' imprisonment with 12 months probation.

- AAP