East Lothian father hauled before a sheriff over his children's’ rotting teeth

A father who neglected his children by failing to take them to the dentist over their rotting teeth has been hauled into court.

Decay: Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard the youngsters had rotting teeth

The 49-year-old dad admitted refusing to take his three children for the necessary dental treatment when he appeared in the dock at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month.

The man, who cannot be named due to legal reasons, pleaded guilty to three offences of wilfully neglecting and ill-treating his children and acting in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to his offspring’s health.

He also admitted a further charge of assaulting one of his children by dragging them out of a vehicle causing the child to fall to the ground and strike their head.

The dad then repeatedly struck the child to the head and body and dragged them into a property during the violent incident in an East Lothian town in July last year.

The father returned to the dock for sentencing where his defence agent Iain Smith told the court his client had already “spent a lengthy time in custody”.

Mr Smith added: ‘He has some acknowledgment that what he did was wrong.”

Sheriff Douglas Keir said: “However well intentioned your actions were not taking you children to the dentist they were completely misguided to the extent they suffered from extensive tooth decay over a period of several years.”

The sheriff noted the assault on one of the children did not result in any injury but added the attack would have been “very frightening and very stressful” for them.

Sentence was deferred for the father to be of good behaviour to later this year.

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