Boy pinned down and smacked for getting ‘B’
A CHURCH pastor and his worship leader wife who assaulted kids when they failed to get top grades at school have walked free from court.
Fraser Dodds, 33, and his wife Carolyn, 31, assaulted a boy and a girl, who can’t be identified for legal reasons, when they did not receive top marks in reports from teachers.
After being given a B in a school assignment, the boy, then eight, was pinned down and restrained by Carolyn Dodds while Dodds smacked him despite protests from the youngster that he couldn’t breathe properly.
The girl, who was six when she was first attacked, was also hit when she was given a “straight face” by a teacher rather than a “smiley one”.
On one occasion, Dodds hit her BY DAVID MEIKLE so hard, a ring caught her skin, causing it to bleed.
The Dodds are heavily involved in the Hope United Church, which is based in Motherwell and Dundee.
He is the associate pastor of the church, while she is a worship leader as well as a singer.
The couple, of Bellshill, went on trial at Hamilton Sheriff Court and denied the allegations against them but were found guilty by Sheriff Shiona Waldron.
The sheriff ordered the pair to be supervised for eight months.
Peter Mullen, defending Dodds, said: “He believes his actions were chastisement but the court found them to be criminal.”
The children had given evidence by video link and told how they were beaten for unsatisfactory school grades. They were praised by the sheriff for offering “remarkably consistent” accounts.
The court heard they were beaten several times between January and February. They told how they were forced to strip before being smacked on the buttocks.
In evidence, Dodds said he had done nothing wrong and suggested the kids had made up the claims.
On the boy’s claim he couldn’t breathe, Dodds said: “He was just trying to get out of it.”
Sheriff Waldron told Dodds: “Assault is a crime of intent which makes it different to chastisement. I’m concerned you insist this was reasonable and you have not shown any insight into just how unacceptable that conduct was.”