East Lothian dad given court order after dishing out birthday bumps that were too hard for his son

A father who gave his 12-year-old son the birthday ‘bumps’ so hard it left the youngster screaming in agony has been placed on a supervision order.

Birthday bumps case emerged at Edinburgh Sheriff Court

The over-zealous father, who is in his 30s, whacked his son on the back a round a dozen times while dishing out the birthday tradition.

But the lad was left close to tears and had to shout “you are hurting me” before he was forced to punch his dad in the groin in an effort to get him to stop.

The dad, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, then grabbed the youngster around the neck in retaliation.

The violent altercation took place as the dad attended his son’s birthday party at the boy’s home in East Lothian on August 18 last year.

The lad’s stunned mum threw her former partner out of the property following the incident and she later reported the matter to the police.

The man appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month to admit a charge of assault and he was back in the dock for sentencing.

Sheriff Adrian Fraser QC was told the man and his son had been reconciled since the birthday party incident and placed him on a nine-month offenders supervision order to monitor his behaviour.

He said: “I am pleased to see matters have resolved with your son and that you have learned from what happened here.

“You have some issues to sort here and I note that you are taking steps voluntarily to do that.”

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