The man, a teacher from Motherwell, Scotland, was convicted of assault in May after he smacked his eight-year-old daughter on the bare bottom at a dentist's.

He and his wife were asked to attend a Children's Panel in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, on Thursday with their daughter, causing her to miss her first day of term.

She emerged from the two-hour hearing in tears.

The panel decided that she and her two brothers, aged six and one, should be placed under a supervision order, meaning the family would face regular checks by North Lanarkshire social workers.

Her 48-year-old father, who cannot be named, said the decision was "destroying" his family and accused the panel of failing to listen to either him or his daughter.

"They are behaving like the Ministry of the Interior in Eastern Europe by their oppressive decision."

He said his daughter wanted to put the whole affair behind her.

"It's most distressing to see her like this," he said. "The panel was supposed to do something for the child's best interests. I ask the world - is this in her best interest seeing her so upset?"

High profile case

The panel of three lay people agreed by a vote of two to one in favour of a supervision order. In July, the family had fought off a similar move to place a supervision order on them and had thought that the case was over.

The father said he believed his family was being made an example of because the smacking case was so high profile.

He said the case had put such a strain on his family that he was thinking of abandoning his appeal against the criminal conviction, although they plan to appeal against the supervision order.

The father is waiting to hear whether he will be sacked from his teaching job with North Lanarkshire council.