Dead toddler’s dad scalded woman

THE father of dead Palmerston North toddler Cash Mckinnon is facing jail for disfiguring a woman by pouring scalding-hot water over her body and clawing at her face.

The woman, who has interim name suppression, was left with wounds on her face and burns stretching from her lower back to her right knee, which blistered and peeled off before leaving permanent scars.

Nicky Mark Douglas, 28, was preparing to fight a charge of disfiguring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm at a jury trial in Palmerston North District Court next month.

But he changed his mind yesterday and pleaded guilty after Judge Barbara Morris indicated he would receive a jail sentence of about five years if he did so. Douglas was remanded in custody to reappear for sentencing in May.

The police summary of facts said the incident took place in Sanson, near Bulls, on July 11. Douglas began verbally abusing the woman and, when she ignored him, he clawed at her face with his fingers. He then grabbed an electric jug full of boiling water and poured it over her, causing her to put her arm up and scream out in pain. She ran to a shower block, where she stripped off and doused her burns under a cold shower.

‘‘She was in considerable pain,’’ the summary said. ‘‘The shower stopped the pain temporarily but it began again when she got out.’’

Douglas was present in the High Court at Palmerston North in February last year to see Sean James Donnelly, 24, convicted of the manslaughter of his three-year-old daughter, Cash Mckinnon, in August 2009.

She died of brain injuries caused by Donnelly swinging her around by the legs and dropping her as punishment for being cheeky. He was jailed for seven years.