A man washed a boy’s mouth out with soap after seeing him kick an old man’s walking stick and then swear, a court heard.
Rian Birtwell, 23, was walking in a park near his home when he saw six-year-old Alfi Cook kick an elderly man’s cane and told him to stop.
But when Alfi told Birtwell to ‘f*** off’ and called him a ‘gay boy’, Birtwell walked to a nearby shop, bought some soap, returned, pinned the boy down, and stuck it in his mouth.
‘He [Rian] fully accepts in hindsight that that was not the best way to react,’ said Jason Smith, mitigating.
‘All Rian was trying to do was teach the little boy some manners. Unfortunately, manners are in short supply nowadays.’
Birtwell, of Washington, Sunderland, pleaded guilty to assault at Sunderland Magistrates’ Court. He was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £85 court costs and a £15 victim surcharge.
Peter Bradley, director of anti-bullying organisation Kidscape, said both the boy and Birtwell could learn a lesson from the incident.
‘I think the main message that people should take from this case is that adults are adults and they should act appropriately when dealing with children,’ he told The Telegraph.
‘If a child is acting in the wrong manner then it has to be dealt with in the appropriate ways.’
