Uppsala father gets two years in prison

A 58-year-old father of four in Uppsala has been sentenced to two years imprisonment for abusing his wife and children.

• 'Overwhelming evidence' against father: court (25 Jul 09)
• Children tell of 'hell' under abusive father (23 Jul 09)
• Charges for father who held family captive (21 Jul 09)

The man was also ordered to pay almost 400,000 kronor ($56,000) in damages to his wife and three of his children by the Uppsala district court.

The court considered the children's testimony to be reliable and considered it proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the father had kept them locked up in the family apartment between September 2003 and March 2004.

The court also concluded that the man's actions exceeded the rights and duties of a parent and guardian to influence and control the personal relationships of one's children, as afforded by law.

The low age of the children at the time of the events, that it was the father that had exposed them to the criminal act and the duration of the abuse, were all factors considered when determining the level of damages. In addition the children's lost school time was considered to have had an impact on their education as they are now of consenting age and need to fund their own education.

One of the daughters, the fourth and youngest child, is not deemed to have been victim of any crime. The girl witnessed in court in support of her father but her testimony was not considered by the court to be reliable.

The father was also on trial on charges of having assaulted and threatened his wife on five separate occasions, but on four of the five occasions it was a case of word against word.

The court wrote that the man's wife appeared reliable but that the available evidence was insufficient to convict.

The man was however convicted for having assaulted her on the occasion that one of her sons was a witness, and for having, on the same occasion, assaulted and threatened to kill the son with a knife.