A 25-year-old man has pleaded guilty on Monday 25 November 2019 after being accused of endangering the safety of his six-month-old son and of voluntarily assaulting his wife.
The man – who cannot be named due to a gag order issued by the court – had pressed his six-month-old son’s face down on a mattress and punched his wife after she tried to rescue her child.
According to media reports, the man who worked as a cleaner and his 20-year-old wife and child lived together in the same house with his brother and wife’s sister.
Man pleaded guilty to physically assaulting wife and infant son | Source: iStock
Man suffocated infant son and abused wife
The man punched his wife in a fit of anger | Source: iStock
In September this year, when the man’s infant son started making some noise, he threatened to abuse his wife and son and started scolding his son to keep quiet.
Later that afternoon, the man insisted his wife place their son next to him on the bed, she relented but eventually did as she was told.
Moments later, she heard her son cry and found him lying face down on the mattress with the man pressing his neck down.
The baby cried and vomited some milk onto the bed.
Seeing this, the woman immediately went to remove her child from his father’s clutches however, the man did not let go.
In a final act of desperation, the woman slapped the man across his face to take the baby away.
The man then furious with his wife punched her on her forehead.
Neighbour took care of baby
The woman fled from the house with her son and placed him in the care of a neighbour before making a police report.
Thereafter, both the woman and her son were taken to the hospital to detect signs of abuse.
The woman was found to have a bruise on her head and an abrasion over her finger while the baby despite having a non-accidental injury was in a fair condition, with stable vital signs.
District Judge May Mesenas said the man could have “exercised more self-control and restraint” towards his own family.
In deliberation of his sentence, Judge Mesenas said she would also assess his suitability for community service or day reporting and whether he should undergo counselling to cope with his frustrations and better his parenting skills.
The man has since been living separately from his wife and child.
He is set to return to court for his sentence on January 13 next year.