'Sadistic bully' who 'forced children to eat family pet' is jailed
A Shropshire pensioner has been jailed after putting his children through 15 years of 'sadistic and gratuitous' physical and emotional abuse during the 1970s and 80s.
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The 77-year-old from the Market Drayton area who a court ordered not be named to protect the identity of his victims, on one occasion killed the family's pet rabbit and forced the children to eat it for supper, Shrewsbury Crown Court heard on Thursday.
On another occasion, he made the children choose between the two family dogs, before dumping one in the countryside, while the children watched it chase the family car as it drive off.
Prosecutor, Mr Anthony Longsworth said the man put the children through “sadistic gratuitous” abuse with incidents of physical and mental humiliation that spanned their entire childhoods.
He told the court that one of the children who was scared of spiders, was forced to lie in the cellar, while a spider was placed on her face.
He added that the three children were also “lined up” and beaten with “sticks and weapons” for minor misdemeanours, including wetting themselves.
“They were forced to eat the family pet,” he said, although he said it was uncertain if the animal was actually served up and eaten.
