Dad fails to overturn convictions in disturbing 'evil spirit' child abuse case (WARNING: Distressing content)
A father who believed his daughter was possessed by an evil spirit and engaged in “savage” physical abuse which “destroyed” her and left her with a catastrophic brain injury, has failed in a bid to overturn his convictions.
The man , who cannot be named in order to protect the identity of his daughter, also claimed through his legal team that he was less culpable because he was at work for the most damaging assault carried out by his wife. At the trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, a lecturer in psychology in the field of faith-based child abuse said familial attempts to rid children of 'jinns' can include beating, burning, cutting, semi-strangulation, starving and rubbing chilli peppers on a child's eyes or genitalia.
Mr Dwyer submitted that "the trial judge erred in failing to direct a verdict of not guilty where the prosecution had not reached the threshold in relation to 'joint enterprise', in that the DPP failed to provide evidence of an agreement, tacit or otherwise, between the parties". Mr Dwyer said that at the trial a video call was played in which the girl's mother tells the father about what happened, to which he responds: "Are you crazy? Why would you do that?"
Ms Justice Kennedy said the trial judge answered questions from the jury foreperson sufficiently, adding that "they [the jury] can be left in no doubt whatsoever" of the concept of joint enterprise. Ms Justice Kennedy noted that the man had pleaded not guilty to the offending but still received a 33 per cent sentence reduction for what was "slim enough" mitigation.
Mr Lawlor said it was "beyond comprehension" that the man could not have known of her injuries, which included burns and cuts to the girl's feet and palms.
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