When a child is not doing well in school, often the punishment is withholding things from them until their grades improve. However, if the allegations are true, that was not the case for a 10-year-old boy of a Kingston 11 address.

It is alleged his father beat him with a mop stick, breaking one of his hands because of his poor school performance.

Information reaching THE STAR is the incident occurred in the community shortly after the end of the last school year. Allegations are the child's father was scolding his son for poor academic performance when the rod of correction did the damage.

Sources told this newspaper the father and the stepmother of the injured child then took him to hospital, but not before he was instructed to tell the doctors he actually broke his hand after he fell from a tree.

The youngster reportedly told the lie to the doctors but sometime after told the police what really happend. His father was subsequently arrested and charged with cruelty to a child and assault occasioning grievous bodily harm.

When the matter appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, a trial date was set for October 20.