Child Care Solicitors

A mother has been convicted of assault on a child in a position of trust, after she slapped her “hysterical” daughter at a One Direction concert last June.

The Daily Mail reports that the 34-year-old nurse – who cannot be named for legal reasons – had taken her eight-year-old daughter and her daughter’s friend from their home in the West Country to Wembley Stadium for the concert.

The court heard that they were late for the concerts and “emotions were fraught” after they got lost trying to find their hotel.

The court that when three other members of the audience saw the woman smack her daughter, they reported the incident to security guards. The mother told them that her daughter had been “lippy and rude”, so she had “had a go at her”.

The girl had been trying to push her way to the front of the crowds, the court heard – so her mother grabbed her and smacked her.

The mother had been convicted on one count of assault on a child in a position of trust in March, but appeared before Hendon Magistrates Court in North London for sentencing last week.

She told the court:

“I am not a bad mother and she is not a bad kid. [She] was cross because I embarrassed her in front of her friend.”

Her defence lawyer told the court that her offence – grabbing and smacking her child – had to be seen in the context of the effect the band One Direction has on their fans.

“It overwhelms the audience,” the court was told. “It can be quite shocking.

“Where your child is misbehaving and appears to have lost control and was trying to get to the front, there are dangers there.

“It is understandable how a parent could be in that situation where emotions are already fraught and you try to gain control.”

It is reported that the mother cried throughout the hearing and had to be handed tissues. However, the prosecution told the court that the girl’s mother had been drinking alcohol before the concert – and had concealed more alcohol in a water bottle, which she had taken into the event.

At Hendon Magistrates’ Court, District Judge Denis Brennan sentenced her to 150 hours of community service and also gave her an 18-month supervision order.

He told the girl’s mother:

“Your daughter was excited but also you were stressed due to getting lost.

“You tried to deal with that by having some alcohol – you lost your self-control.

“The injury was relatively minor – but who knows the psychological impact it would have had. She was by dint of her age very vulnerable.”

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