Violent stepdad left infant stepson covered in 20 bruises to his body during a 'catalogue of cruelty' at family home in Leeds

A court heard horrifying details of the abuse and suffering caused to the child at a family home in Leeds.

Leeds Crown Court heard the stepdad attacked his stepson on multiple occasions over a 15-month period when he was aged three and four.

He was jailed for 18 months after pleading guilty to cruelty to a child.

The defendant, who the YEP has chosen not to name in order to protect the identity of the young victim and to fully report the details of the case, confessed to police how he had regularly assaulted the boy.

Andrew Epsley, prosecuting, said the defendant and his girlfriend had children together.

Police interviewed the stepdad after being contacted by hospital and nursery staff over concerns that the boy may have been the victim of physical attacks from one or both of his parents.

The defendant, aged in his 20s, identified five separate incidents when he had harmed the child.

He described how the victim had been taken to hospital with a bruised face on one occasion when he 'lashed out' when the child had bitten his finger.

Mr Epsley said the boy's parents deliberately kept the child away from nursery after another assault after he was left with bruising to his face.