Australia’s ‘dad from hell’ is exposed – as sickening acts against on his own kids are revealed in court’

WARNING: Confronting details

A man brutally tortured his three children by regularly hitting them with weapons, putting salt in their eyes and putting their hands in boiling water during a “horrific” and lengthy ordeal, a court has heard.

All three children were as young as 10 when the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, subjected them to the abuse for four months in Brisbane’s south.

Details of the man’s torture of the children were detailed during his sentencing in the Brisbane District Court on Thursday.

A small group of family and supporters joined him in the courtroom as the man frequently put his head in his hands and fidgeted during the proceedings.

The court was told the abuse was ‘protracted’ – often involving the use of guns, bars and even a frying pan during the abuse, which lasted four months between late September 2022 and January 2023.

On other occasions salt was put in their eyes and their hands were dipped in boiling water.

The man took over the children – two boys and a girl – from his grandparents, who were caring for them, in July 2022 and refused to give them back.

The girl is not the man’s biological daughter, but the court was told the man considered her his child.

Child Safety investigated the manner in which the man took the children, but took no further action as there were no indications at the time that the children would be harmed.

But in the following months, even more disturbing information was passed on to authorities, prompting the police to be informed.

The abuse only came to light after police attended the property after the man called triple-0 and said his five-year-old son was not breathing.

The child was taken to hospital in a coma.

While riding in the ambulance, the man lied to paramedics and said there were no other children in the building.

The older boy and girl were later found by police at 1:30 a.m. two days later, locked in the home’s garage, sleeping on a broken bed.

“They were covered in bruises and couldn’t walk properly,” Judge Jennifer Rosengren said.

The man had “deliberately” ordered his sisters to pick up the children to prevent the injuries he had inflicted from being discovered, Judge Rosengren said.

Crown prosecutor Amy Stannard said the girl had a broken knee when she was taken to hospital.

All children were malnourished; one of the boys refused to let nurses take away the unfinished food while he was recovering in the hospital.

The court was told the man had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of torture and one count of suffocation and grievous bodily harm.

Judge Rosengren said the specifics of the torture against the three children included the man “intentionally inflicting pain and suffering” by hitting or hitting them with his hand or a metal bar, throwing them against the wall and floor, salt in their eyes, forcing them to sleep on a broken bed in the garage and not providing the children with enough food.

The choking attack involved the man placing his legs on his eldest child’s head and neck.

The man was sentenced to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to torture, strangulation and grievous bodily harm. Photo: NewsWire / Dan Peled

Judge Rosengren said she had difficulty looking at photos of the children’s injuries – which have been sealed by the court.

“What you did to these young children borders on unspeakable,” she said.

‘Each of the three children is at high risk of needing lifelong access to psychological guidance and support.

“None of them have been to school in the six months they’ve been in your care.”

The man was given a main sentence of 14 years in prison, with Judge Rosengren noting that he had limited insight into his offending or capacity to discuss the violence.

“You have shockingly abused your position of trust and power over these defenseless, dependent young children whom you had withdrawn from the protective influence of their grandparents,” Judge Rosengren said.

“They had nowhere to turn for protection.”

The man was born in Congo, but his family fled to a refugee camp in Tanzania as a boy until they migrated to Australia.

The court was told the man did not have a visa and was at risk of deportation.

A psychologist said the man had spoken about problematic alcohol use and speculated that his offending could be explained by “chronic anger management problems and emotional dysregulation.”