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They Fuck You Up, Your Mum & Dad

Man gets 8 years for drugging his children's tennis opponents


Associated Press

MONT-DE-MARSAN, France — A father who drugged his children's tennis opponents, leading to one player's death, was sentenced to eight years in prison after being convicted today.

Christophe Fauviau had confessed to the crime. Before jurors began their two hours of deliberation, the retired soldier told the court that he was responsible for Alexandre Lagardere's death and that "I'll always carry that with me."

"Not for one second did I think of hurting people. I realize now that I did," the 46-year-old former military pilot said.

Lagardere's father, Bernard, refused to comment on the verdict, but asked that the Fauviau family remember "that in our house, there will always be someone missing."

Fauviau was accused of spiking the water bottles of his children's opponents 27 times in tournaments across France from 2000 to 2003, using the anti-anxiety drug Temesta, which can cause drowsiness.

The case illustrated the darker side of some parents' attempts to help their children achieve athletic success.

Prosecutor Serge Mackowiack had asked for eight to 10 years imprisonment — below the 20 years maximum for the charge of unintentionally causing death by administering toxic substances. In asking for the lighter sentence, Mackowiack said Fauviau had been a good soldier and said he did not seek to kill or injure the players.

Still, the prosecutor described Fauviau as "an adult who turned his children into objects of his own fantasies of success" and whose actions were premeditated.

"Nothing stopped you: Players collapsing on the court, the sight of stretchers, of an 11-year-old girl, a young woman who collapses against a fence. Nothing stopped you," Mackowiack told the court in Mont-de-Marsan in southwestern France.

Fauviau's 16-year-old daughter Valentine is a rising star in French tennis. His son Maxime also played.

In tearful earlier testimony, Fauviau asked Lagardere's parents for forgiveness.

"It's something that completely took me over, and I couldn't imagine that I could be responsible for the death of your son," he told the court last week. "I never wanted things to come out like this."

Opponents of Fauviau's children complained to investigators of various ills: weak knees, dizziness, nausea or fainting. Several were hospitalized.

In July 2003, Maxime Fauviau defeated Lagardere, who complained of fatigue after the match and slept for two hours. While driving home, the 25-year-old school teacher crashed his car and died, and police believe he fell asleep at the wheel. Toxicology tests showed traces of Temesta in his system, delivered by Christophe Fauviau.

Fauviau, a former helicopter pilot instructor for the French army, had been in custody pending trial since his arrest in August 2003.
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/biz ... 12656.html

:confused:
 
Not a recent tale by any means. I found this languishing among some bookmarks on my machine. I don't think it's been posted before.

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/1039086/detail.html

Man Charged In Shaping Baby's Head Case

Father Wanted Head To Be More Like His Own

POSTED: 9:14 a.m. EST November 2, 2001

CLEVELAND -- A man accused of trying to shape his infant son's head to look more like his own has been charged with felonious assault.

NewsChannel5 reports that Joshua Brissett, 19, pleaded innocent to the charges that stem from using his hands to try to shape his five-month-old son's head.

Roosevelt Worsham suffered a fractured skull. He has been placed in the custody of relatives.

Roosevelt's mother, Shiara Worsham, has been charged with child endangering, according to Kim Kowalski, a spokeswoman for the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office.

Kowalski said that Worsham saw Brissett attempting to shape the infant's head and waited three days to take him to the hospital after he became sick.
 
Soldier, wife accused of forcing kids to fight

A Fort Hood soldier and his wife have been accused of injury to a child for allegedly forcing their 3-year-old daughter to beat up an older boy as they videotaped it, Killeen police said.

Dennis Michael Bittinger, 22, was arrested Wednesday and his wife, Rhonda Nicole Bittinger, 23, was taken into custody Thursday, police said.
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http://www.poe-news.com/stories.php?poeurlid=58449
 
Two UK girls 'treated as slaves'

I think this qualifies as Fortean seeing as Mercedes Farquharson was given care of the girls and was allowed adopt another girl.

Two UK girls 'treated as slaves'

US police are searching for a woman who allegedly kept two British girls as slaves for 13 years. Mercedes Farquharson, 60, made Jasmine and Holly Lloyd work 20 hours a day at her North Carolina home until they were freed in December, police said.

She is wanted on three counts of involuntary servitude, police in Monroe, North Carolina, say.

She had taken over care of the girls in Southall, west London, in the 1990s, taking them to Spain and then the US.

Jasmine and Holly, now 22 and 18 respectively, said they were not allowed to go to school or have any friends and had to look after a menagerie that included more than a dozen dogs and around 300 chickens.

Farquharson, who took in the girls when their mother was having marriage problems, is now on the run. Investigators believe she may have fled to Spain.


We had to clean until we could eat off the floor or until you could see your face in the counter
Holly Lloyd

She is also wanted on two counts of felony child abuse over the suspected beating of her adopted daughter.

The Lloyd sisters and Farquharson's 15-year-old adopted daughter were taken from the home in Monroe, North Carolina, by police after a neighbour reported suspicious circumstances.


Detective John Young, of Union County Sheriff's Office, said: "The house was nasty. It was like the inside of a barn.

"This woman was working these girls basically 20 hours a day and wouldn't give them proper nourishment or any kind of schooling."

'Regular beatings'

Holly told local TV channel WCNC the experience was "very draining". She said Farquharson would beat the three girls, using "canes, bamboo sticks and dog leashes".

She said all the girls would get into trouble for something each day and at least two would be beaten.

"We had to clean until we could eat off the floor or until you could see your face in the counter but it was gruelling," she said.

The Lloyd sisters said they were put to work aged 12 and seven. After moving from the UK, they lived with Farquharson in Spain for around six years before moving to Monroe some five years ago.

When social services workers made a scheduled visit in 2003, the girls said they were ordered to clean the home and tell officials they loved Farquharson.

But late last year investigators returned and took the 15-year-old into care.

The Lloyd sisters are now being cared for at the home of a social services employee's family.

Jasmine Lloyd also spoke to the WCNC channel about her former life.

"When I was there, I never thought it was weird or bizarre," she said.

"Now that I'm out I realise she's the weird one, not the rest of the world."


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/4874296.stm

Published: 2006/04/03 21:59:36 GMT

© BBC MMVI
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LINK
Dad charged in daughter's murder says she was the devil
By Angela Rozas

A Clarendon Hills man charged with killing his 8-year-old daughter told authorities she was the devil and he had to kill her to save the world, a law enforcement source said Thursday.

Neil J. Lofquist, 40, talked to authorities for 14 hours, including breaks, after the killing of Lauren Lofquist on Sunday, and gave a detailed statement that was videotaped, the source said. The family on Thursday announced funeral arrangements for Lauren, who they said was a goalkeeper for the AYSO soccer club and a member of Brownie Troop 1489, the Community Presbyterian Church LOGOS Program and the Clarendon Hills Little League.

In the statement, Lofquist, speaking clearly and calmly, said he saw signs of the devil in his daughter and saw the number "666" in a card game they were playing, the source said. Lofquist told authorities he would not hurt his 6-year-old son because he was "the chosen one," the source said.

In charging Lofquist on Monday, police said he choked and stabbed Lauren in the family's home and submerged her head in a toilet in an upstairs bathroom.

His wife and son were downstairs, police said, and left the home after Lofquist said he needed to go to the hospital. The family asked a neighbor to watch Lauren, and the sitter discovered her in an upstairs bathroom.

Lofquist's wife told investigators he had been acting strangely for three to four weeks, the source said. Investigators are awaiting DNA tests of evidence collected from the girl's autopsy to determine whether to bring more charges against Lofquist, law enforcement sources said.

Prosecutors have said they will request a psychiatric evaluation, and attorney Terry Ekl, who will represent Lofquist, said he, too, would ask for an evaluation. "We will be making decisions very soon as to whether we'll assert an insanity defense," Ekl said. Lofquist, who is being held without bail in DuPage County Jail, is expected in court Monday.
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Australian baby 'put in dryer'

Australian baby 'put in dryer'

An Australian man has been charged with causing bodily harm after he put a 13-month-old baby in a tumble dryer when she spilt a drink on herself. Samuel Siddall, 21, was left in charge of his girlfriend's baby while she went to the gym for an hour, police said.

She returned to find the baby had suffered serious burns. Doctors notified police because of the suspicious nature of her injuries.

They expect the baby to make a full recovery and leave hospital this week.

'Horrific injuries'

"The injuries are horrific and in my years of being a police officer I have not seen or heard of this type of injury before," police detective Deb Newman told reporters.

"The person we allege has done the act has stated that he has put the child into a clothes tumble dryer, closed the door and turned it on for a couple of minutes," she said.

Police said the child suffered serious burns to both feet and her left hand as well as bruising to her face and back.

Mr Siddall, 21, was released on bail and told to reappear in court in June. He was also forbidden to contact the child's mother.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-p ... 028826.stm
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You couldn't make this up :roll: - Oh well, I hope the chap goes to prison and learns about 'being tumbled' in there. :twisted:
 
I wish someone would put him in the ring with me-I get first goes on the surprisingly heavy gloves.....


People who harm babies make me very,very :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
 
LINK
Man Charged with Poisoning His Kids for Money

ATLANTA (AP) -- A Stockbridge, Ga., man is accused of poisioning the soup of his two small children and was planning to sue Campbell Soup Co. for their injuries, federal authorities said Thursday.

A federal grand jury indicted William Allen Cunningham on charges of tampering with consumer products with reckless disregard for the risk that another person would be placed in danger of death or serious bodily injury. Cunningham, 40, is also charged with mail fraud, wire fraud and communicating false statements that a consumer product had been tampered with.

According to investigators, Cunningham fed his 3-year-old son and 18-month-old daughter tainted soup on three different occasions in January. The children were taken to hospital emergency rooms.

On the third occasion, January 29, 2006, authorities said Cunningham used the prescription drugs Prozac and Amitriptyline -- both used to treat depression -- to poison the children. On that occasion, his daughter was taken by helicopter to an Atlanta hospital.

Authorities said Cunningham poisoned the soup hoping to get money from the manufacturer, claiming the product was the cause of the children's sickness. U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said Cunningham contacted New Jersey-based Campbell by mail and phone to complain, but there was no evidence that the soup was tainted when it was purchased.

Nahmias said the children are in the custody of their mother, who has not been charged in the incidents. He declined to comment on the health of the children. Cunningham remains in custody and is expected to appear before a federal judge next week. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 75 years in prison and a fine of up to $1.5 million.
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LINK
Police: Teen Hides Dead Newborn In Entertainment Center
Girl Charged With Murder

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- A 17-year-old Colorado girl is facing a first-degree murder charge, accused by police of hiding her newborn baby in an entertainment center.

Police believe Cheyenne Corbett hid her pregnancy from her parents and delivered the baby in a shower early Sunday. Corbett was taken to the hospital for bleeding and workers called police after determining she had given birth.

She said she first started feeling pain while at band camp. Later, she told investigators that she was taking a shower and felt the urge to push, delivering her baby alone, Denver TV station KMGH reported.

She said she wrapped the baby in a towel and hid her, saying she planned to tell hospital workers where the baby was so they could help her.

An autopsy determined the baby died of asphyxiation. Corbett is a Palisade High School student.
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Think this story belongs in here. Sad story. I've never heard of a jail sentence of "an indefinate period" before though.

Edinburgh Evening News

IT WAS a crime which was to haunt Louisa Ovington the rest of her life and would ultimately see her copy the brutal murder of her mother and become a killer herself.

From the moment she watched her father bludgeon mum Mary Chatterton to death in a double knife attack in her Stevenson Drive home in 1984, the five-year-old's life began to spiral out of control. Despite being adopted by a new family and given a fresh start away from Stenhouse, Ovington struggled to escape her past and became increasingly unruly as she grew up, receiving a string of convictions for violence and carrying weapons.

But her behaviour would take an increasingly violent turn when she stabbed her boyfriend of six years to death in a frenzied attack which mirrored the slaying of her mother 22 years earlier.

Ovington has now been told she will spend an indefinite period in jail for the manslaughter of on-off boyfriend Maurice Hilton.

Detective Superintendent Andy Reddick, who led the investigation into Mr Hilton's death, said today that Edinburgh-born Ovington was "extremely dangerous".

He told the Evening News: "Ovington was in and out of trouble all her life and she wasn't particularly remorseful over what she did. I think it is fair to describe her as extremely dangerous.

"Her lack of emotional control, when combined with her use of alcohol and knives poses a signification risk to the general public. And this would need to be taken into account if she is ever considered for parole."

Ovington, of Station Town, near Peterlee, was convicted for stabbing her boyfriend Maurice Hilton in January this year after he boasted to her about his sexual conquests. A drunken Louisa Ovington knifed the 46-year-old as he lay naked in her bed.

She told the court she had only meant to scare him but was very drunk and killed him instead.

Jurors heard five 999 calls Ovington made asking for an ambulance after inflicting the fatal wound.

The couple had been going out since 2000, when Mr Hilton was already involved in a relationship with Ovington's adopted sister.

Judge John Milford said the sentence reflected the fact she was clearly "emotionally unstable".

The 27-year-old had earlier been acquitted of murder by a jury but was jailed indefinitely after admitting manslaughter at Newcastle Crown Court.

The court heard that she had a history of alcohol abuse and violence with previous convictions for assault and carrying weapons. The judge said: "I have no doubt your life will continue to be one of failed relationships, unemployment, excessive drinking and particularly drunk outbursts of aggression which will involve knives."
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Judge John Milford said the sentence reflected the fact she was clearly "emotionally unstable".
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Um, and rather than making sure she gets treated for that, he jails her for extra long. What a complete twat.

The judge said: "I have no doubt your life will continue to be one of failed relationships, unemployment, excessive drinking and particularly drunk outbursts of aggression which will involve knives."
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Sounds like some upper middle class sh*thead potificating on a way of life he can neither imagine, understand, nor be bothered to... Would he really have fared any better if he'd found himself in her shoes..? :(
 
Probably not. :( Probably just doesn't know what else can be done with her. Doesn't say which jail she is going to. Perhaps she can get some treatment there? *isn't too hopeful*
 
Sadly, at an objective level, the judge may have been correct in his prognosis. Being upper middle class makes one no less fallable than not. I believe his worry indicated future actions, and a brief summary of the past. As such, it is, without further investigation/proper psychological analysis/social care, not without merit - especially, when one takes into account how much money society is willing to spend on rehabilitation on cases such as these. There is no easy answer. I would hate to be in the 'big' seat' when making these decisions; but someone has to...it is easy to criticise, when it is not you.
 
As such, it is, without further investigation/proper psychological analysis/social care, not without merit - especially, when one takes into account how much money society is willing to spend on rehabilitation on cases such as these. There is no easy answer. I would hate to be in the 'big' seat' when making these decisions; but someone has to...it is easy to criticise, when it is not you.
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Isn't it the definition of a tragedy when everyone can see where something is going but can do nothing, or at least, say they can do nothing, or perhaps, if they truly can do nothing/have no choice, it never seems to get questioned why that is the case/how the situation came to that.

I don't pretend to be without bitterness on these matters Gadaffi, having had experience on the bleaker side of the mental health and legal systems...but yes, considering what a wastebasket category such people are regarded as generally, and how little concern anyone has for how people end up in such positions in the first place, the judge may well have had no choice. I'd still be happier if he didn't sound so freaking smug about it :(
 
"Would he really have fared any better if he'd found himself in her shoes..?"

No, but then the gender of the offender would not have attracted much coverage or sympathy. Testing our responses by substituting other crimes where victims become offenders, we might find that gender is the main or sole trigger for pity in this case.

The judge's prognosis just seems to be a sad acknowledgement that the early-warnings had gone unheeded by the offender and the agencies dealing with her. Anger at his remoteness from the circumstances of her life can be understood but the most draconian views on crime and punishment come from the tabloid-reading mob, which largely determines penal policy these days.

Only its cries for the restoration of the death penalty have so far been resisted. :(
 
Maine parents upset over rude rhymes Wed Sep 20, 5:18 PM ET



A book of rhymes handed out to kindergarten classes across Maine is being criticized by some parents as inappropriate. "Schoolyard Rhymes" is a compilation of 50 verses included in bags given to 18,000 pupils through the Read With ME literacy project supported by Gov. John Baldacci and his wife Karen.

Karen Baldacci, who is a former kindergarten teacher, spearheads Maine Reads, the nonprofit umbrella organization for Read With ME that is funded by Verizon, the Bangor Daily News reported. The group receives no state money.

A few of the rhymes have raised some eyebrows. For example, one says, "Ladies and gentlemen, Take my advice, Pull down your pants And slide on the ice." Another one says, "Girls go to Mars to get candy bars. Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider."

Erica Smith of Hampden, mother of a 5-year-old son who goes to the McGraw School, said the book is "completely inappropriate."

"It's rude. There are words in there that I don't allow in my house," said Smith, who complained to her son's teacher as well as the school principal. She also called the governor's office to voice her displeasure.

The book, edited by award-winning author Judy Sierra of Castro Valley, Ca., and illustrated by Melissa Sweet of Rockport, was chosen by a five-member committee of literacy specialists, librarians and educators including Karen Baldacci.

Since the book was distributed, the governor's office has received about a dozen e-mails and phone calls from people who said they were "uncomfortable" with the book, said Crystal Canney, spokeswoman for the governor.

"The committee obviously feels that parents should use their own judgment on what they feel is appropriate for their children," she said.

Officials noted that the rhymes, which have been around for generations, are meant to be taken lightly and that the intent was never to offend.

Sarah Cecil, coordinator of the Portland-based Maine Reads, said this year marks the first time anyone has complained about the program.

Most of the evaluation forms that accompanied the book were positive, she said. "At the same time, we're sorry if we offended people and we can respect each parent's or educator's decisions about whether to read the book or not," she said.

Thumbing through the book at her desk at the Bangor Public Library, Anne Mundy, director of the children's department, said she could see both sides of the controversy.

"Everyone's sensibilities are a little different, so it's hard to find something that's going to be welcomed by all families of kindergartners," she said.

___

Information from: Bangor Daily News, http://www.bangornews.com

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060920/ap_ ... ude_rhymes
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What about old fashioned nursery rhymes... Like little jack horner or georgie porgie. they are learning to recite poems at my daughters school...they are so bland and boring things like

I like cars
red cars green cars
i like cars...

It goes on but it is so boring and not fun at all.
 
We're going to raise a generation of boring droids if this keeps up. :(
 
licata1708 said:
We're going to raise a generation of boring droids if this keeps up. :(
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No chance with this kind of thing going on!

Dad put faeces on son's face: court

An angry father rubbed his three-year-old son's face in his own faeces after a toilet accident, a Brisbane court has been told.

The 25-year-old labourer, who cannot be named, pleaded guilty in the Brisbane District Court to one count each of common assault and assault causing bodily harm on March 1 this year.

Judge Debra Richards sentenced him to three years probation, and ordered him to perform 240 hours community service. Prosecutor Carolyn McAnally told the court the boy, who lived with his family at Ipswich, west of Brisbane, was found by a neighbour wandering down the street, crying and calling for his mother.

When she took the smelly boy inside he told her how it was not dirt, but "poo" on his face, because his father had rubbed his mouth and nose in it. When his father came looking for him, the terrified child cowered inside, and refused to go with him.

The father again lost his temper when he discovered the neighbour had given the boy soft drink and chips to eat. He had been looking after his son for the day, because he had been sent home from his daycare centre, and his mother was on a course, the court heard.

In an interview with police, the man said the boy had excreted on the floor and he had told him to clean it up. He then walked away because he had a weak stomach, and couldn't stand the smell.

When he returned he became angry because the boy was playing with the faeces. He pushed the boy's face in them and then lifted him up by the neck and threw him into the backyard, from where he eventually wandered off.

Judge Richards admonished the man and told him he obviously needed to complete a parenting program. "I am speechless to think a parent could do this to a child," she said.

"And you don't tell a three-year-old to clean it up; I don't care if you've got a weak stomach." She said he would be required to complete a parenting program, an anger management course, a cognitive skills program and have a psychiatric assessment as part of the probation order.

The man has since left the family home to live in Capalaba in Brisbane and has had no further contact with the boy.
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HK stepmother ordered chopping

HK stepmother ordered chopping

The case shocked the Hong Kong community
A Hong Kong woman has been found guilty of ordering the chopping off of her seven-year-old stepson's right hand.
Hung Man-yee, 20, was convicted of wounding after she paid an ex-boyfriend to arrange the attack.

Judge Peter Line said her "deep hatred" of the boy was prompted by jealousy. She wanted the boy's father to give preference to their new-born son.

Sentencing was deferred for psychiatric reports, in a case that has shocked Hong Kong.

Five other people on trial received sentences of between two and 18 years.

The boy, Shum Ho-yin, was attacked by two masked men in August 2005 as he walked home with his grandmother.

While one held the grandmother, the other chopped at the boy's wrist several times in an attempt to sever his hand. He was left with broken bones and severed tendons and nerves.

'Deep hatred'

Judge Peter Line called it "one of the most wicked woundings with intent to cause grievous bodily harm in many years".

He said Hung had been motivated by "deep hatred" of the boy, who she reportedly wanted her husband to give up following the birth of her own son.

Hung's former boyfriend Tsang Ho-wai was found guilty of recruiting three others - two of them 16 - to help in the attack.

The judge condemned Tsang - who he sentenced to 18 years in prison - for showing no remorse.

The boy is reported to have since recovered, though he still has restricted movement in his hand.





http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6194852.stm
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US boy held for opening Xmas gift

The boy repeatedly took his present from its hiding place
A South Carolina mother has had her 12-year-old son arrested for opening his Christmas presents early.
The boy was taken into custody after his mother discovered he had entered his great-grandmother's house and taken presents from their hiding place.

The boy was handcuffed and taken to a local police station on petty larceny charges.

The boy's mother, Brandi Ervin, told the Associated Press news agency she had acted to teach her son a lesson.

"He's been going through life doing things... and getting away with it," she said.

He had repeatedly taken the present, a Nintendo video game console, from its hiding place in his great-grandmother's house.

Hyperactive

The boy, who has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is already facing an expulsion hearing at his school for attempting to hit a police officer assigned to the school last month.

The boy's case will be presented to York County's Department of Juvenile Justice, which will decide what action to take.

Ms Ervin told the Associated Press she hoped the authorities could scare her son into behaving himself.

"It's not even about the Christmas present," she said.

"I'd rather call (the police) myself than someone else call for him doing something worse."
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6213012.stm
 
HK stepmother jailed over attack

The case shocked the Hong Kong community
A Hong Kong woman has been sentenced to 12 years in jail for ordering the chopping off of her seven-year-old stepson's hand.
Hung Man-yee, 20, was found guilty last month of paying an ex-boyfriend to arrange the attack on Shum Ho-yin.

The court was told she had been jealous of the boy's attentions from his father, whom she wanted to give preference to their new-born son.

Five others have already been sentenced in a case that has shocked Hong Kong.

Convicting her last month, Judge Peter Line called it "one of the most wicked woundings with intent to cause grievous bodily harm in many years".

Recovery

Shum Ho-yin was attacked by two masked men as he walked home with his grandmother in August 2005.

While one held the grandmother, the other chopped at the boy's wrist several times in an attempt to sever his hand. He was left with broken bones and severed tendons and nerves.

He is reported to have since recovered, though he still has restricted movement in his hand.

Five other people on trial received sentences of between two and 18 years.

Hung's former boyfriend Tsang Ho-wai received the longest sentence for recruiting the others - two of them 16 - to help in the attack.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6175281.stm
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New neglect case shocks Austria

A row has erupted in Austria over three girls who were kept cut off from the outside world by their mother for seven years, Austrian media report.
After the mother's separation from her husband the girls were reportedly kept in darkness at the family home and lived amid human filth.

Authorities in Poestlingberg near Linz removed the girls from the house and placed them in care in October 2005.

Details of the case only emerged in the Austrian media at the weekend.

The case has drawn comparisons with the case of Natascha Kampusch, a girl who was kept hostage in a basement for eight years in a quiet Austrian suburb.

'Failure to act'


The solicitor for two of the Linz girls, Margreth Tews, told Austria's Der Standard newspaper that "for years the youth welfare organisation and foster care authorities just looked on without acting".

She said neighbours in Poestlingberg "had on numerous occasions told social workers that they were worried about the girls, and the school authorities and doctors had also done so".

A spokesman for the Urfahr district authorities rejected Ms Tews's criticism, saying there had been insufficient evidence of neglect.

According to Ms Tews, the authorities should have acted in 2001 when the mother - a lawyer - was treated in a Linz clinic for hallucinations and delusions.

The girls' father had also been pressing for visiting rights, but the mother had refused to let him see the girls, Ms Tews said.

Austria's Der Kurier news website reports that the girls had developed their own language and played with mice, isolated in the filthy house. Their isolation had begun when they were aged six, 10 and 13.

Their mother - who is now in custody - had kept the curtains permanently drawn, unscrewed the light bulbs and shunned all social contact, the paper said.

The girls are now undergoing psychotherapy in a clinic near Klagenfurt, while their mother faces prosecution for wilful neglect and grievous bodily harm, Der Kurier reports.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6353533.stm
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Shock at women goading toddlers

Footage of four women goading toddlers to fight has "stunned" police and social services in Devon.
The seven-minute footage, filmed at a house by one woman, was shown in a case at Plymouth Magistrates' Court.

In the clip, a boy wearing a nappy was called a "wimp" for not hitting a girl back after she struck him in the face.

Four women admitted child cruelty charges and were released on bail on Wednesday. Det Sgt Andy Kings said the police had been "stunned" by the case.

"This was a multi-agency operation with the police and social services working together and every professional that has seen this has been shocked and stunned," he said.

"Locally this is something that is new to us, but we are aware that similar incidents have occurred elsewhere in the country and it is something people need to be aware of."

The film was found by social services.

The boy, aged two, is seen crying after being punched in the face by the three-year-old girl and is told by one of the four women in the room "not to be a wimp or a faggot" and to hit her back.

The four women, all from the same family, are heard laughing as the toddlers are urged to keep on fighting.

'Taunted'

When the boy tries to get away and climb into an armchair, the women shout at the girl to punch him again.

She does and the boy is urged to fight back, but says: "No, I don't want to."

The girl leaves the room, and when she comes back the two are taunted and told to fight again.

The court heard that when interviewed by police, one of the women said: "I didn't see any harm in toughening them up. I done the same with my own children."

One of the women pleaded guilty to causing or procuring the children to be ill treated in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering of injury.

The other three pleaded guilty to jointly inciting the ill treatment of children.

Sentencing was adjourned until 16 March for reports.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/6366255.stm
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:shock: :evil:
 
I don't know what the world is coming to! In my day, there was no arm-chair to escape to and we had four-inch spikes attached to our ankles! :shock:
 
Bizarre story...

Shock at women goading toddlers


Footage of four women goading toddlers to fight has "stunned" police and social services in Devon.

The seven-minute footage, filmed at a house by one woman, was shown in a case at Plymouth Magistrates' Court.

In the clip, a boy wearing a nappy was called a "wimp" for not hitting a girl back after she struck him in the face.

Four women admitted child cruelty charges and were released on bail on Wednesday. Det Sgt Andy Kings said the police had been "shocked" by the case.

"This was a multi-agency operation with the police and social services working together and every professional that has seen this has been shocked and stunned," he said.

"Locally this is something that is new to us, but we are aware that similar incidents have occurred elsewhere in the country and it is something people need to be aware of."

The film was found by social services.

The boy, aged two, is seen crying after being punched in the face by the three-year-old girl and is told by one of the four women in the room "not to be a wimp or a faggot" and to hit her back.

The four women, all from the same family, are heard laughing as the toddlers are urged to keep on fighting.

'Taunted'

When the boy tries to get away and climb into an armchair, the women shout at the girl to punch him again.

She does and the boy is urged to fight back, but says: "No, I don't want to."

The girl leaves the room, and when she comes back the two are taunted and told to fight again.

The court heard that when interviewed by police, one of the women said: "I didn't see any harm in toughening them up. I done the same with my own children."

One of the women pleaded guilty to causing or procuring the children to be ill treated in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering of injury.

The other three pleaded guilty to jointly inciting the ill treatment of children.

Sentencing was adjourned until 16 March for reports.

The children are in the care of Plymouth City Council's Social Services.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/6366255.stm
 
After the reports of how badly we're doing as a nation in bringing up our children, I'd say Toddler-fighting is about as as sad an indictment as it gets. Unless you've bet serious money on it.
 
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