Father who regularly ‘flew into fits of rage’ and abused his children is jailed
‘No matter what the time frame is. We take all such allegations seriously’
A controlling father who subjected his three children to more than two decades of abuse in Windsor has been jailed, writes David Lee.
Rachid Khadla, 56, took charge of every aspect of his children’s lives, from what they wore to the food they would eat and who they could be friends with.
His campaign of abuse took place between 1998 and 2019 with officers arresting him on October 17, 2019.
He stood trial at Reading Crown Court last month after being charged with two counts of assaulting occasioning actual bodily harm and three counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a child aged under 16.
The court heard how Khadla would easily fly into fits of rage with his children and slap their hands with a spoon, punch them, throw things at them, criticise and threaten them. He controlled what activities they could do around the house and what friends they could talk to.
On one occasion, Khadla threw a chair at his then
nine-year-old daughter, causing a permanent ear injury. As a result of his own obsession with fitness and diet, he also forced her to sign a document to say she would ‘do lots of exercise’ so as to ‘never get fat, even until I die’.
A jury found him guilty by unanimous verdict with the 56-year-old sentenced to two years and four months in prison at a hearing on
Friday.
Investigating officer, Detective Constable Sherise Humphreys, of the Child Abuse Investigation Unit, said: “I hope that this case gives other victims of domestic violence and child abuse the encouragement to come forward and to report to police.
“No matter what the time frame is. We take all such allegations seriously.
“I would like to thank the family for having the courage to stand in court and relive the trauma that they have had to endure over so many years.
“I hope the sentence today can help draw a line under what has happened so that the family can move on and finally have some closure.”