Abused son ‘would have killed father’

“If I could have‚ I would have killed him myself. I hate him.”

That is what one of the children of the “Springs Monster” in the so-called “house of horrors” said about his father.

The child’s father has been found guilty of a string of crimes perpetrated against his own children.

The man – and his wife‚ who has also been found guilty of various offences – cannot be named to protect the identity of the children.

“I hate everything about him. He never loved me,” the child said in an affidavit dated September 26.

“I wish I could get another surname, I do not want to be anything of him anymore, I do not want to be his son.”

The father is expected to be sentenced on Wednesday in the Pretoria high court.

The reign of terror made headlines four years ago when details emerged of how the children were burnt with blow torches‚ tied up in a closet and kept handcuffed.

The court previously heard how the couple’s 11-year-old son was sometimes suspended by his hands and feet by chains from poles‚ and whipped and beaten with a knobkerrie.

The horror was revealed after the boy escaped and alerted the neighbours.

The father was found guilty of attempted murder‚ rape‚ defeating the ends of justice‚ dealing in and possessing drugs.

The mother was found guilty of child abuse and drug possession.