SHANE O’BRIEN OF CHEPSTOW SENTENCED FOR BRUTAL CHILD ABUSE IN BERKSHIRE AND OXFORDSHIRE

In August 2020, a deeply disturbing case of child abuse came to light involving Shane O’Brien, a man from Chepstow, Wales, who subjected his two children to a series of severe and sadistic punishments that left lasting trauma. The court heard how O’Brien’s actions inflicted both physical and emotional suffering on his children, with the abuse taking place over a period spanning from July 2014 to December 2016 in the Berkshire and Oxfordshire regions.

According to court records, the two siblings, now adults, recounted numerous instances of cruelty inflicted by their father. They described being forced to hold up placards bearing the words “liar” and “stealer,” and enduring physical beatings with a whip and a belt. One particularly harrowing detail involved the daughter being compelled to write the phrase “I am a liar, I am a stealer” 1,000 times on a piece of paper, after which Shane O’Brien proceeded to whip her. The court was also told that Shane repeatedly bashed his son’s head against a wall after discovering he had downloaded games onto his phone while the family was away.

Further acts of abuse included shaving the children’s heads as a form of punishment, which the daughter described as making her feel “worthless.” She also begged her parents to stop during her hair being cut, but her pleas were ignored. The son was subjected to extreme deprivation, being refused food and denied access to the toilet on certain occasions, forcing him to use a bottle in his room. The children’s suffering was compounded by incidents where vinegar was poured onto their wounds, with Shane telling them that “that will be a lesson not to self-harm again.”

Both children suffered from flashbacks and began to self-harm as a result of the trauma. The court heard that Shane’s stepmother, Denise O’Brien, 49, was aware of the abuse but chose to turn a blind eye, and as a result, she was spared prison time. She was sentenced to eight months in jail, suspended for 18 months, and was ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work along with 20 days of rehabilitation.

Additional disturbing details included the couple’s refusal to seek medical attention for a dog bite that caused heavy bleeding from the girl’s hand, fearing the dog might be euthanized. The children’s social lives were also restricted; their phones had contacts deleted, and they were forbidden from having friends. During police interviews, Shane O’Brien described his son as a “manipulative and a pathological liar,” though both he and Denise later admitted their involvement in the abuse.

Judge Nigel Daly, presiding over the case at Oxford Crown Court, described the cruelty as involving “gratuitous degradation” and “significant force.” Shane O’Brien was sentenced to 26 months in prison, while Denise received a suspended sentence of eight months. The court’s ruling underscores the severity of the abuse inflicted upon these vulnerable children and highlights the importance of justice in cases of extreme child cruelty.