Abusive mum jailed

A mum who forced her daughter to drink
saltwater and pushed a bar of soap into her
mouth during an appalling seven year
catalogue of abuse was yesterday jailed.
The parent, now 60, subjected her child to
regular physical and sexual abuse between the
ages of five and 12, prompting her to run away
from home.
In a shocking case at Liverpool Crown Court, it
was heard how the mother struck her daughter
with a bath brush in the early hours of the
morning to enforce cleaning of the house.
The girl was tortured with a hot light bulb, had
her head banged against a wall so hard she
vomited and was hit with a cast iron frying
pan.
The youngster did tell police about the
treatment meted out to her, no formal action
taken until last year when she revisited the
cops, aged nearly 40.
In one incident, the mother bashed a hammer
on her fingers, held her head under bathwater
so she feared drowning and smothered her
with a pillow to punish her.
She was also subjected to degrading sexual
abuse.
The victim broke down sobbing uncontrollably
as a judge told her mother she had “robbed
her of her childhood” by her persistent abuse
which made her feel worthless.
The 60-year-old, from Everton, Merseyside,
who cannot be identified for legal reasons,
pleaded guilty to three sexual assault offences
and 12 offences of child cruelty between May
1978 and May 1985.
She was jailed for six years and eight months.
Paul Lewis, defending, said that the defendant,
who has no previous convictions, had had
psychological and psychiatric difficulties at the
time and had a single and isolated parent.
Judge Warnock added: “She{the daughter}
clearly felt worthless, unwanted and not
believed. If it is any comfort she is believed
now.”