An Australian woman who hit her eight-month-old daughter with a large slotted cooking spoon, has avoided a prison sentence.
Lorien Norman, 26, from Adelaide, was convicted of causing harm with intent after repeatedly striking her child Evie.
Ms Norman was given a two-year good behaviour bond and ordered to pay A$500 (£306), according to the Daily Mail, avoiding the maximum prison sentence of 13 years.
Police were called to Ms Norman's home in October 2016, after neighbours heard her threatening to throw her daughter off a balcony.
Officers found the child with bruising to her face and neck, which Norman claimed in court, were caused by a fall in a playground.
However, she later pleaded guilty to aggravated causing harm with intent.
District Court Judge Jack Costello told Norman she would not spend any time in prison if she adheres to the terms of her behaviour bond and did not re-offend for two years.
During this time, she will be supervised by a community corrections officer.
Judge Costello told the court: “'Whilst any assault of a child, particularly one of such a tender age and vulnerability, by a parent stands as a gross breach of trust, your offending is nevertheless far from the most serious of offending of this type in terms of the degree of force involved and the duration of the offending.
“In this respect I particularly note the opinion of the treating paediatrician to the effect that there was no evidence of bony or intracranial injury and that your daughter's physical injuries were likely to completely resolve.”
