A man and woman are accused of wilfully neglecting three children in their care by depriving them of food, making them sleep in a dog basket and carrying out a series of assaults.
David McColl, 47, and Julia Stephen, 65, are facing more than a dozen charges alleging cruel behaviour towards children as young as three over a seven-year period.
The charges allege that two children were dangled over a balcony by their ankles, had hot sauce and Fairy Liquid poured into their mouths and were assaulted.
The alleged incidents took place between 2006 and 2013 at addresses in Aberdeen and Balloch, West Dunbartonshire.
McColl and Stephen deny all the charges against them.
Children claim they were deprived of food
Papers put before Aberdeen Sheriff Court show the pair face a total of 15 charges which state that the three children would have been between three and eight when the alleged incidents began in 2006.
It is claimed that between January 1 2006 and December 31 2010, McColl assaulted one girl – aged between eight and 12 – by hitting her with a belt, throwing her across a room and punching her to her body.
McColl is also accused of assaulting a boy – aged between four and eight – around the same time by grabbing him by the throat, striking him with a belt and throwing him across a room.
He is additionally charged with assault on a third girl – aged between three and seven – by pinning her to a wardrobe by her throat.
A fifth charge, involving all three children, alleges McColl wilfully mistreated them by depriving them of food.
During this same period, it is claimed Stephen struck one girl to the body with a belt and to the head with a sex toy.
She is also accused of assaulting two of the children by dangling them over a balcony by their ankles.
All these incidents are alleged to have occurred at an address in Balloch.
Accused alleged to have put hot sauce in children’s mouths
At an address on Bedford Avenue, Aberdeen, McColl is accused of assaulting one girl – then aged between 12 and 16, hitting and pushing her to the body.
It is further claimed he assaulted the boy – aged between eight and 12 at the time – by grabbing his throat, slapping him to the face, hitting him with a belt and throwing him across a room.
Another charge states he assaulted the third girl – then aged between seven and 11 – by hitting her on the head.
Stephen faces a charge she also wilfully mistreated the children “in a manner likely to cause them unnecessary suffering or injury to health” by making all three sleep on the floor and in a dog’s basket.
She is additionally accused of three charges involving all three children which claims she put hot pepper sauce and Fairy Liquid in their mouths.
The trial of McColl, of Auchinleck Crescent, Aberdeen, and Stephen, now of Revesby Avenue, Boston, Lincolnshire, is set down for later this year.
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