Jailed: York dad who terrorised his daughters by wearing a wolf mask
A York dad who terrorised his daughters by wearing a wolf mask has been jailed for 20 months.
The 54-year-old man wore the mask to frighten and punish his young children whenever they misbehaved – as part of a campaign of child cruelty over two years and nine months.
They were so scared they wet the bed, and their primary school teachers noted they were visibly frightened of certain characters at story time.
The girls told a support worker how petrified they were of their dad when he wore the wolf mask.
It emerged he left the mask at the door of their bedroom at night, leaving them too scared to get up to use the loo.
The girls’ mother said her partner had anger problems, that he drank in the mornings and throughout the day: “Living with him was hell.
“He had bad days and targeted the children. It was very tense in the house.”
When the couple split up and the dad left the home, the bedwetting stopped and the girls’ mother said they were a lot calmer.
Pulled their hair
Prosecutor Glenn Parsons told York Crown Court that the dad was physically aggressive to his daughters.
He pulled them into his van by their hair. Neighbours said he was “heavy-handed with them…always shouting and swearing”.
Defence barrister Susannah Proctor said he admitted he struggled to cope with the girls’ behaviour on occasion.
He drank five to six cans of Stella a night but that he didn’t think he had a drink problem.
His barrister said the man was illiterate and had problems expressing himself and was easily frustrated – especially when his daughters misbehaved.
She said her client had lost everything and would work with social services in the chance he could see his children in the future.
Sentencing the dad for two counts of child cruelty, Judge Simon Hickey said: “You were cruel over a long period of time and this must be reflected in the sentence.
“It’s clear you have anger management issues… made worse by your heavy drinking. Your wolf mask completely terrified your children.
“Neighbours describe you as a ‘small tyrant’.”
In addition to 20 months imprisonment, the dad was handed a 10 year restraining order- banning him from contacting his children without approval of social services and preventing him from going near their home or contacting their mother.