'Daddy smacked me': Carer says toddler in Northampton child cruelty case was 'scared' during changing time

A toddler taken from the home of a Northampton couple at the centre of a child cruelty case told his foster carer that 'daddy smacked me', a court heard yesterday.
A trial is underway over alleged mistreatment of children at a Northampton household.A trial is underway over alleged mistreatment of children at a Northampton household.
A trial is underway over alleged mistreatment of children at a Northampton household.

A trial is underway over alleged child mistreatment in a Northampton household.

The children involved in the case reportedly told police in evidence they were regularly beaten by their father.

The family was separated by social services.

A trial is underway over alleged mistreatment of children at a Northampton household.A trial is underway over alleged mistreatment of children at a Northampton household.
A trial is underway over alleged mistreatment of children at a Northampton household.
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Yesterday (March 28), a foster carer took the stand at Northampton Crown Court to tell the jury how one of the children she took in from the household was 'visibly scared of her' during changing times for months after they arrived.

The carer told the court: "It was a normal nappy change and the toddler just went rigid and got agitated.

"I asked the child why and they said 'daddy smacked me'.

"They said, at changing times, their daddy would say they was naughty.

"They then got their own hand and hit themselves on the bottom to show me.

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"All you can do as a foster carer is reassure and show them you are not going to harm them.”

A barrister acting on behalf of the father in the case said the child had accused the foster carer herself on three occasions of hitting them - which, the barrister said, 'of course wasn't true'.

One of the children at the centre of the case told police in evidence they were all beaten regularly.

But when he appeared in court, he told the jury what he said in his police interview was 'all lies' and he was 'mollycoddled to lie' by his social workers.

The trial continues.

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