‘Nursery children force-fed by owner and staff’ – court
THE owner and staff at a Welsh nursey have gone on trial accused of child cruelty by forcefeeding, restraining, and picking up youngsters by their wrists.
Swansea Crown Court heard there was a “rough house” culture at Bright Sparks in Port Talbot, and the way staff treated children fell well below the required standard.
The owner and manager of the Taibach business, Katie Davies, her deputy manager Christina Pinchess, and staff member Shelbie Forgan all deny the child cruelty charges against them.
David Scutt, for the prosecution, said the allegations came to light after students from Afan College and St Joseph’s School, who were on work placements at the nursery, raised concerns about what they had seen with their parents and tutors.
Bright Sparks was closed in March last year when the investigation was launched.
Davies, aged 32, of King Street, Port Talbot, faces one joint charge of restraining and force-feeding a child. Pinchess, aged 31, of Brynna Road, Cwmavon, faces seven charges – one of them jointly – of force feeding a child, covering a child’s mouth with her hand to stop it crying, and picking up a child by its wrists. Twentytwo year-old Forgan, of Mariners Point, Sandfields, faces one charge of picking up a child by its wrists, and a joint charge of restraining and force feeding a child. All the offences are
alleged to have happened over a five-month period during 2015 and 2016.
The court heard all three defendants “emphatically” denied that any of the alleged incidents ever took place.
Mr Scutt said it was the Crown’s case that youngsters at the nursery were freqently not treated with the care and attention, and patience, that they required.
The barrister told the court Bright Sparks had a “rough house” culture where picking children up by the wrists, shouting at them, restraining them and force feeding them went on.
He also said the nursey staff would “falsify” entries in the daily diaries kept for each child, for example saying the youngser hadn’t been put down to sleep when he or she had been – “parents were being mislead”, he said.
He told the members of the jury that the defendants denied the incidents allegedly seen by witnesses had ever happened, and it would be up to them to determine who was telling the truth.
The case – which is expected to last two weeks – continues.