Dad jailed for sadistic disciplining of kids
A dad has been jailed after tormenting his two children to horrifying discipline tactics with extreme mental and physical punishments.
The sadistic dad forced his daughter to write “I am a liar, I’m a stealer” 1000 times and forced his kids to shave their heads and pour vinegar onto their wounds.
Shane O’Brien, 54, left his children “feeling less than an animal” and with severe trauma.
The siblings, who are now adults, told a court the ordeal left them suffering flashbacks.
Shane’s partner - the children’s stepmother - Denise O’Brien, 49, was spared prison after turning a “blind eye” to the abuse.
Both had previously two counts of child cruelty and were sentenced at Oxford Crown Court.
Alexandra Bull, the prosecutor on the case said the crimes involved "physical abuse, sadistic punishment, emotional abuse and neglect".
She revealed the mistreatment took place between July 2014 and December 2016 in the Berkshire and Oxfordshire area.
The two siblings recalled multiple accounts of cruelty at the hands of their father, Shane, it was said.
One example was a time when he forced them to hold up placards with the world “liar” written on it, and endured beatings with a whip and a belt.
The daughter was also made to write "I am a liar, I am a stealer" 1,000 times on a piece of paper and was later "whipped" by Shane.
In another violent episode, he repeatedly “bashed” his son’s head against a wall after he downloaded games onto a phone while the couple were not at home.
The court was also told the boy was forced to shave his head and was told “it was a sign he was a liar”.
The daughter also had her cut while she begged them to stop, an incident which she said made her feel “worthless”.
The boy was also refused food and not allowed to use the toilet on occasion, having to use a bottle in his room.
In a victim personal statement, he said he like he was “less than an animal” during the abuse.
When the children began to self-harm, Shane poured vinegar onto their wounds and said “"that will be a lesson not to self-harm again".
They were also not allowed to have friends and had numbers deleted off their phones.
At a police interview following the allegations Shane called his son a "manipulative and a pathological liar" but both later admitted their role in the offences.
Sentencing Judge Nigel Daly said the cruelty involved "gratuitous degradation" as well as "significant force used".
Shane, of Chepstow, Wales, was jailed for 26 months.
Denise, of the same address, was handed an eight-month jail term, suspended for 18 months.
She must also complete 150 hours of unpaid work and 20 rehabilitation days.