Mum in court for slapping son
THE CHRONICLE Peter Hardwick 20/2/ 2020

A FRUSTRATED mother who slapped and pinched her 11-year-old son as she drove has ended up before the Toowoomba Magistrates Court

The boy had "significant behavioural issues", the 43-year-old woman's solicitor Phil Stainton told the court.

After she picked the boy and his sister up from school on September 13, the lad had jumped into the front seat with his sister in the back, police prosecutor Rowan Brewster-Webb told the court.

As she drove to pick up her high school student daughter, the boy engaged in a verbal slanging match with his mother to the point the woman slapped him across the face.

When the boy continued to yell at his mother, she pinched his thigh, he said.

When he then hit his mother on the arm, his sister had pulled his seat belt which tightened around his neck.

His older sister had also punched him when she was picked up, the court heard.

The boy was left with markings and bruising and his mother pleaded guilty to a charge of assault occasioning bodily harm.

Mr Stainton said his client had no criminal history and pleaded to the slap and pinch, the other assaults having been done by the boy's sisters.

Magistrate Kay Ryan placed the woman on a six-month good behaviour bond.