A Margate teenager who beat up a four-year-old boy has escaped going straight to prison.

His victim was seen by a shocked adult with swelling to his forehead and bruising to his ears that was “so purple that it looked like it had been drawn with a felt-tip pen”.

Brady Harrison, of Beatrice Road, had denied being cruel to the child – who gave evidence at the trial at Canterbury Crown Court.

The 19-year-old was found guilty – and has been given a 12-month jail sentence suspended for two years.

Judge Heather Norton told him that doctors who examined the child concluded the injuries were consistent with “fist blows, slapping or forceful pinching” and “unlikely to have been caused accidentally”.

The child later told police that Harrison had hit him “in the head, the privates and the belly” and had “slapped him, slapped him and slapped him”.

In ordering him to do 240 hours of unpaid work for the community she told Harrison: “You pleaded not guilty and as a result the child had to give evidence. You continue to deny the offence.

“The whole truth about what occurred will always remain somewhat obscure but it is hard to see how he could have received those injuries accidentally.”
She said that fortunately his victim had not suffered “lasting physical or emotional damage” as a direct result of his attack.

“Why you committed such an assault may at first glance be difficult to understand, but you were only 18 at the time of this offence.

"But this was a deliberate and very unpleasant assault on a young child.”