A Resident Magistrate in St Catherine warned a father to be careful or he would lose his family because of his violent nature and lack of communication.

RM Marcia Dunbar-Greene told Eric Campbell that he had "a gem of a child" in his son with whom he needs to bond.

"You need to take care of your responsibility, your son. Don't abuse him. He has displayed very good qualities and you need to be proud of him. The child is an award-winning student and is focused," Dunbar-Greene said.

The resident Magistrate also recommended counselling for both parties as she said there was hope but professional intervention was required before things got out of hand.

Arresting officer Calecher Williams of the Portmore Police Station told the court that on April 16, about 8:45 pm, the accused was at home in Greater Portmore when he attacked his son and punched him repeatedly after a disagreement about dirt on a bed.

The matter was reported to the police and Campbell was charged with assault occasioning bodily harm as a result.

strained relationship

In admitting his actions, the accused told the court that there was a strain in the relationship between himself and the complainant since his mother moved out of the house.

"Your honour I got angry and threw him on the bed but he was not hit. This happened as he did not speak to me with any respect, imagine dirt from his slippers on the bed, and he said 'so what?' to me ," Campbell said.

The court was informed that the accused constantly beat the child's mother who had to seek refuge elsewhere. The court was also told that the child had to be relocated to sit his [CSEC] examinations.

Before enlisting the services of the Probation Department to do counselling, the RM told Campbell he needed to take the complainant to a doctor and replace his pair of eyeglasses that was damaged during the incident.

Campbell is scheduled to reappear in the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate Court on August 11.