BRETT STEELE AND BETHANY PITT SENTENCED IN DERBYSHIRE FOR CHILD CRUELTY INCIDENT

A court heard that a violent boyfriend assaulted his five-year-old partner's son while the mother watched and later covered for him. Brett Steele, 32, from Midland Road, Swadlincote, carried out a "sustained and violent" attack that resulted in 19 injuries to the child's head and neck, after the boy kept getting up at night requesting a drink. His partner, Bethany Pitt, 29, of Swadlincote Road, Woodville, witnessed the assault alongside other children and a friend. Despite seeing the abuse, Pitt did not report it to her child's school or social services, instructing her friend not to do so, despite her friend's protests. The incident occurred on January 24 last year. Both Steele and Pitt pleaded guilty to child cruelty charges in court. They appeared at Derby Crown Court on January 12 for sentencing, where Recorder Andrew Smith QC stated: "There is no justification for the sustained and violent assault that you [Steele] carried out. He was five years old. He was deserving of your care and attention and instead, in temper, you hit him time after time causing substantial bruising and real emotional distress." Addressing Pitt, he added: "You [Pitt] knew better yet you traded that instinct that every parent would have to prioritise your approach to your partner and this assault happened in front of your children." The court was told the incident took place while Steele was upstairs playing on an Xbox, with the family at home with a friend. The child had been put to bed but kept asking for a drink and could not settle. Prosecutor Siward James-Moore explained: "He [Steele] then came downstairs and grabbed the child and started, as their friend described it, laying into him, whacking him, shouting at him that he had to stop getting up every night. The other children observed this, crying and concerned for their brother." The court heard that the young boy later "cried himself to sleep." Pitt admitted to her friend that Steele had "gone too far." The following day, Pitt confided in another friend about what had happened after the child missed school. Despite the friend's urging to report the matter to social services, Pitt insisted she would handle it herself, claiming she told Steele not to do it again and that he had apologized. When she still did not report the incident, the friend took the initiative and contacted social services. James-Moore noted: "There were 19 significant findings including extensive bruising to his jaw, the right side of his face, his neck and his armpit." He added that Pitt did nothing to protect her son, stating, "She said she would sort it out but had her friends not intervened, he would have remained in the house." The children ultimately went to live with their father, who provided a victim impact statement describing how the child was not himself and would flinch when hugged. He also said the other children appeared scared and withdrawn. Both Steele and Pitt had no prior convictions. Steele received a 10-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, along with 200 hours of unpaid work and 15 days of rehabilitation. Pitt was sentenced to nine months in jail, also suspended for 18 months, with a requirement to complete 25 days of rehabilitation activity.