A Tasmanian man has been jailed for six and a half years for ill-treating his two young stepsons over almost six years, including pouring petrol over them and threatening to set them alight.
Patrick James Johnson was found guilty by a jury of two counts of ill-treating a child.
The Supreme Court heard the abuse happened over nearly six years, when the boys were aged between six and 14.
Justice Tamara Jago said the violence was deliberate and “heartless” and driven by Johnson’s “unfounded resentment” of the children.
“… This was wilful conduct directed at causing harm and hurt to the children under the guise of punishing them,” she said.
The court heard Johnson strangled the boys until they lost consciousness, hit them with a home-made metal bar, stabbed their hands with a fork and forced them to drink a mixture of vinegar, chilli and lemon.
He also forced chilli powder up their noses, made the brothers fight each other and, on one occasion, made one boy dig a hole while telling him he was digging his own grave.
The court heard Johnson made the metal bar himself at work, brought it home and told the boys he would use it to punish them before testing it by striking one of them.
In one incident, Johnson poured petrol over both boys as they sat naked in a bath, then stood flicking a lighter and threatening to set them on fire. One boy was left with chemical burns.
The court heard one of the boys wet the bed after a traumatic incident at his primary school.
Johnson punished him for it, including by striking him with the metal bar.
Both boys were particularly vulnerable, with the court told one has ADHD and the other has complex post-traumatic stress disorder.
Justice Jago said the boys’ mother was aware of much of what was happening but felt unable to intervene.
She found the mother also appeared to be a victim of Johnson’s control and violence.
The court heard Johnson silenced the children by threatening to kill or harm their father and grandparents if they spoke out.
Justice Jago said the boys were left feeling trapped and hopeless, with no one to protect them.
She said Johnson had shown no remorse or insight into the harm he caused and his moral culpability was very high.
“Your behaviour towards [the two children] was vile and reprehensible,” she said.
“There is no justification for your conduct. Your conduct deprived [them] of the safe, loving and protective childhood they were entitled to expect.”
Johnson, who will turn 39 in August, had no prior convictions for violence and ran his own welding business before he was jailed.
He was sentenced to six and a half years’ imprisonment, backdated to February 18.
He will not be eligible for parole until he has served four years.
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