Calgary mom who severed daughter's foot tendons and forced her to eat feces called 'barbaric' by judge

The severe physical and mental abuse wrought by a mother on her daughter over a span of 17 months was “barbaric,” a Calgary judge said Wednesday.

And the woman’s lawyer could only agree, voicing many of the same sentiments.

Though he hasn’t yet passed sentence on the woman, Provincial Court Judge Mike Dinkel expressed profound disgust with her actions that included severing her daughter’s foot tendons with a kitchen knife and forcing her to eat feces in the family’s Calgary apartment.

“The conduct is really disturbing,” Dinkel told court.

“If I was to go onto the street and explain what happened to this child, a person would say ‘that’s astonishing, how could you do something like that to a kid, to your own kid?’ It is mind-boggling.”

The woman, whose identity and that of her victim is under a publication ban, has pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm, assault with a weapon, uttering threats and administering a noxious substance.

Defence lawyer Richard Glenn noted his client has no prior criminal record and pleaded guilty to the offences.

But he said there wasn’t much he could add in defence of the woman, who beat and abused her daughter from 2011 to 2013 when the girl was 10-11 years old.

“This was a very misguided attempt to discipline, this whole thing became a ritual,” said Glenn.

“It’s very close to being barbaric.”

Court heard the woman beat the girl with a variety of household implements, scalded her with hot water three times and even made her eat hair pulled from a bathroom drain.

Throughout much of Wednesday’s proceedings, the woman wept in the prisoner’s box while her daughter gazed sadly at her.

Judge Dinkel noted a psychiatric assessment of the mother yielded few clues to her conduct.

“I looked to the psychiatric report for answers and they aren’t there,” he said.

The girl’s plea for leniency for her mother in a victim impact statement shouldn’t be heeded, said Crown Prosecutor Rose Greenwood, who argued the interests of wider society are paramount.

She’s seeking the maximum, 10-year penalty while Glenn argued for a sentence of six to eight years.

The woman delivered a weeping apology, repeating “I’m sorry” three times.

Dinkel is expected to hand down a sentence next month.

Original NEWS Source:- http://www.calgarysun.com/2014/01/08/calgary-mom-who-severed-daughters-foot-tendons-and-forced-her-to-eat-feces-called-barbaric-by-judge