Father jailed for cruelty to children

A "Jekyll and Hyde" father who was found guilty of a string of cruelty charges against his children was jailed for five years today.

Terrence Eames, 53, was handed the sentence at Derby Crown Court after he was convicted last month of 16 counts of child cruelty.

They included locking his children in a room for prolonged periods of time, hitting them round the head, dangling one over a staircase by his ankles, and holding his son's hand on a hot radiator.

During a two-week trial, Eames denied 26 offences of child cruelty and two counts of actual bodily harm on his ex-wife.

The offences were all said to have happened between 1987 and 2000, when the family lived at different addresses in north west Leicestershire.

The 53-year-old, now of Woodville Road, Hartshorne, near Ashby, Leicestershire, was found guilty of 16 counts of child cruelty and cleared of 10 counts and two assaults on his ex-wife.