Sheriff finds man guilty of assault on two boys

A PAIR of boys were hit by a man who became annoyed with their play fighting.

Charles Codona struck the children on their heads and legs after becoming annoyed with them “carrying on”.

Perth Sheriff Court heard evidence from both children, aged under 16, via a video link.

The younger child told how he ran away and sought refuge at his grandmother’s home because he was scared.

The child said the abuse was triggered by him play fighting with the older boy.

“It was just one (blow) to the head or the leg,” he said. “I didn’t have any injures but I think I had bruises. “I felt quite scared.” He added that after Codona had left the area he remained fearful of the man, saying: “I was quite scared at night in case he tried to take me away.”

The older child said Codona had threatened him with violence as he stood in a garden near his home.

Asked by depute f iscal Rebecca Kynaston how the incident had made him feel, the boy replied: “sick”.

One of the boys said that the blows left a lasting impact and that he was “scared still”.

The children eventually informed family members of the assault and the police were called.

Solicitor Steve Lafferty, defending, asked both children if they could be mistaken that Codona hit them, to which both boys replied they were not.

They also denied the suggestion that the bruises they suffered were as a result of their play fighting or their participation in sports.

Codona, of Hilton Terrace, Cambuslang, denied wilfully ill-treating the children at an address in Perthshire last year.

The 50-year-old further denied causing a breach of the peace by threatening the older boy with violence on July 11 last year.

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis found Codona guilty of all three charges against him and deferred sentence until May 13.