A MAN who ‘disciplined’ his children by hitting them with sticks fell foul of ‘cultural differences’, according to his lawyer.

The man, who lives in Prestwick, admitted striking his two daughters over the course of three years, both before their 16th birthday, at Ayr Sheriff Court last week.

But his lawyer argued that the matter was down to ‘cultural differences’ as this was the way children were dealt with in his homeland in Africa.

The man appeared before Sheriff Mhari McTaggart at Ayr Sheriff court last week.

Procurator Fiscal, Stephen McLean, explained: “The accused moved to the UK in 2010 and in February 2014, the accused’s partner moved to Scotland with their two children and since, have had a third child.

“On March 7, one of the two daughters was at school when she told a friend that she was beaten with a stick.

“The friend told the staff at the school who then contacted social services and on March, 8, the police attended the home with the social workers.

“In an interview with one of the daughters, she said that the accused beat her and stated on February 27, she was doing her homework and got one of the sums wrong – the accused then struck her with a stick and had hit her about 10 times.

“She indicated that the accused struck her on five other separate occasions using a stick - the child became upset and tearful at her interview.”

The child also stated that the occasions when she was struck had only happened from her 11th birthday.

“It became apparent that this type of discipline was regular.”

Mr McLean, added: “A similar incident happened to her sister and an interview was conducted by the same investigative officers.

“She was told that the accused has disciplined her sister that was over homework and seen the accused struck her sister all over the body and that it had happened before.

“The child said she had also been struck by a stick and she referred to a scar.

“The following day, the accused was detained and formally interviewed were he admitted using a stick to discipline his children.

“Each occasion he removed a stick from a small tree outside their home.”
Speaking on his client’s behalf, Mr Campbell, said: “This is something that is obviously down to cultural differences.

“He came over to this country to work as a chef.

“This is a form of discipline that has been taken from when he was growing up in Kenya.

“The report indicates that he and his wife are very loving parents and the social workers seem to be pleased with the process that he is making.

“I would ask for you to defer this for good behaviour and he appreciates that he cannot discipline his children in this way."

Sheriff McTaggart deferred the sentence for the accused to be of good behaviour.