Children beaten with sword cover

A father who beat his sons with a samurai sword cover because they did not do their chores properly has been jailed for nine months.

The 32-year-old man, from Eastbourne in East Sussex, ordered the boys, aged nine and seven, to lie over a chair while he smacked them with the two-foot metal sheath.

He admitted two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm at Hove Crown Court on Tuesday.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested after the older boy's school teacher spotted bruising on his legs and bottom.

The court heard how the child had pleaded with his father to stop during the assault at the family home in June, promising to behave.

The children's mother was out of the house at the time.

The court was told the man was no longer living at the family home in Eastbourne and was allowed only supervised access to the children.

He was jailed for nine months for each count of assault, to run concurrently.