"This was a sustained, nasty and brutal assault"
A father and son have been jailed for a prolonged attack on their 16-year-old daughter and sister in a case of honour-based violence.
The pair, aged 53 and 22 respectively, and who cannot be named for legal reasons, were sentenced at Preston Crown Court after they admitted to assault occasioning actual bodily harm at a property in Pendle, Lancashire.
The honour-based incident happened on May 14, 2022.
The victim had gone to the shop for around 10 to 15 minutes.
During that time, her family had been ringing her as they did not like her going out.
When she returned home, her father took her phone and started hitting her, asking her where she had been.
He then told her to go upstairs whilst her brother checked through her phone.
The brother then demanded she come downstairs. He took their father’s walking stick and started hitting her on the back before it was passed to their father. He began brutally beating her.
Meanwhile, the brother struck his sister with a pestle.
Her mother and sister tried to intervene but they were told to go away.
The girl’s brother said he was going to “kill her”. He tried to kick her out of the house but her father took her back inside and resumed hitting her.
Despite her telling them to stop, the brother punched her in the face, resulting in her nose and lip bleeding.
Her mother initially managed to stop the attack, however, the honour-based attack resumed.
Judge Darren Preston said: “The victim, and victim is what she was and still is, was your daughter and your sister and she was just 16 at the time when you took it upon yourselves, for reasons known only to yourselves to discipline her physically, ferociously, and violently.
“You (father) were the first to use violence, striking her across the back of the head, but you (son) used the more serious violence and started hitting your sister with your father’s stick on her back, effectively wielding a weapon against her.
“You both then proceeded to punch her and to kick her, and to hit her with the stick.
“You (son) used a pestle as a weapon before punching her on the nose.
“And so between you, you used a walking stick as a weapon, a pestle as a weapon and your feet as weapons.
“This was a sustained, nasty and brutal assault on a young girl who was little more than a child.
“I have seen photos of the injuries you caused to that young girl, and your behaviour caused not only injuries of a physical nature but serious distress and mental health problems.
“Fortunately she has put this episode behind her and come out the other side stronger.
“Given the persistent and prolonged nature of the assault and the vulnerability of the victim it is a category two offence as far as harm is concerned and carries a starting point of 18 months in prison had you been convicted at trial.
“The situation is seriously aggravated by the fact this was a joint episode of violence against a child.
“(Father), your distress is as I find distress at your own predicament, but you denied in the pre-sentence report that you were violent towards your daughter, even after pleading guilty, and you blamed your son for the assault.
“You have no empathy at all with your daughter, everything you have demonstrated is based around self-pity.
“Even in the letter I have received today, you take limited responsibility for your actions.
“(Son), your distress in my view is more genuine, and you yourself were subject to the restraints placed upon your family by your father, however that is balanced by the fact you were the one who used more violence, and you were the one who started the use of the weapons.
“Only a custodial sentence is appropriate for violence of this nature.”
The father was jailed for 19 months while his son was imprisoned for 16 months.
PC Carley Gaynor from the East hate crime unit summarised the victim’s statement to the court.
PC Gaynor said: “The victim explains at first she was really affected by it because she was taken away from her family and she lived away for four months, which she found hard.
“She says she couldn’t believe her dad and her brother did that to her.”
“She says at first she was in pain (from the assault) and she was angry at her family for everything that had happened and at the start, she said she didn’t want to go back and she just wanted to leave.”
Despite the honour-based attack, the victim says she now wants a relationship with her father and brother.
PC Gaynor continued: “This was a cowardly attack against a vulnerable girl in her home, committed by the very people who were supposed to love and protect her.
“I want to praise the bravery of the victim in this case.
“I know the unwarranted attack and everything else that has resulted solely because of the disgraceful actions of the defendants have had a profound effect on the victim and other members of her family.
“I want to thank the family member who reported the honour-based violence (HBV) attack to the police, recognising such behaviour is completely unconscionable.
“If you or a family member or friend is the subject of HBV, I would encourage you to contact the police, knowing you and/or the victim will be listened to you, believed and protected.”
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