Barnsley Chronicle – Saturday 16 March 1907

Brutal Father Sent to Prison

At Doncaster West Riding Court on Saturday, Frederick Lawton, collier, of Thurnscoe, was summoned at the instance of Inspector Dolan, N.S.P.C.C., for assaulting and ill-treating his daughter Edith, aged 10 by thrashing her mercifully with his belt.

It appeared that on the site the preceding the date in question the chance to the night at the house of a Mrs Westwood, where she and her father (the defendant), was a widower, and formally lodged.

Sunday night, too, was spent there, and when she returned home on Monday after school, defendant beat her with a strap until her back was covered with bruises.

Dr. Cryke, of Goldthorpe, said the child was suffering from eczema of the head, her back was covered with bruises, and the beating must have been very severe.

The defendant (a widower) had 46 previous convictions for various offences, and he was now committed to prison for two months.