A FORMER New Forest magistrate has been given a community punishment order for hitting a child with a spoon.

Ali Omar, 43, was convicted of wilfully assaulting a young person under 16, who cannot be named for legal reasons, after a trial in May this year.

Prosecutor David Bartlett said that according to a witness, Omar hit the little boy so hard on the wrist that the spoon snapped.

Alexia Durran, defending, said the only result of the assault on the child was a red mark.

But, she added that the trial - during which he was also found not guilty of threatening to kill his wife and allegations of child cruelty - had been humiliating for him.

She told Judge John Beashel: "As your honour knows, he served for some time on the lay magistrates bench in the New Forest.

"This makes this conviction far more traumatic for him.

"As a result of these allegations, he has had to relocate his business, and he is now working in Eastbourne."

An environmental health consultant and former Bournemouth council employee, Omar is currently going through a divorce from his wife of 13 years, Susan Omar, the subject of the charges for which he was cleared in May.

He has moved from his home in Sandleheath, Fordingbridge, to live with his new partner in Hailsham, East Sussex.

Judge Beashel said he took into account Omar's previous good character and that he was caused humiliation because of his role as a lay magistrate.

He sentenced Omar to a 160-hour community punishment order.

First published: August 14