Two women who beat a brother and sister with brushes and burned the soles of their feet with a heated metal spoon some 37-years-ago have finally been brought to justice.

Preston Crown Court heard today how the "cruel and unusual" punishments were carried out by sisters Hamida Baghdadi and Hasina Kapadia at a house in Bicknell Street, Blackburn, in October 1985.

The victims, a girl and boy who were aged nine and eight-years-old at the time, respectively, were the step-children of Baghdadi.

Along with her sister, Kapadia, the children’s step-aunt, they all lived together in the house, with three other children and their father.

The offences, assaults occasioning actual bodily harm, came to light in 2018, when the girl, now aged in her 40s, contacted the police to report an incident of historical physical abuse on her and her brother.

Prosecuting, Adam White said the girl, then nine, described how her step-mother, Baghdadi, would regularly beat them up and would make the five children stand in a line and beat them with brushes.

Mr White said: “She further described being slapped and kicked whilst she was curled up.

“The boy, then eight, recalled how his step-mother used to be nasty to them as children and recalled being smacked.

“He recalled how her sister, his step-aunt, Kapadia, would encourage her. All of this while their father was out at work.”

The court heard how the family were known to social services prior to the metal spoon assault, owing to bruising being discovered by teachers at the children’s school.

In October 1985, the girl refused to give pocket money from her father to Baghdadi when she asked for it.

Baghdadi then sent the other children to a mosque and kept the girl and her brother at home.

Baghdadi and Kapadia together held the girl down and tied her and her brother to a sofa-bed in the living room using a washing line.

Mr White went on: “They brought a spoon from the kitchen which they must have heated somehow and Hamida Baghdadi held it against the skin on the arch of the girl’s foot.

“That burnt her skin, and she remembered it was painful and trying to kick her legs, but they were tied. She also remembered being worried for her brother.

“The boy recalled one the defendants burned him to the bottom of his foot but his injury was not severe, so it would appear the spoon was used without being re-heated.

“The children were left like this until the other children came home and they were untied.

“It seems no attention was given to the injuries to their feet that night or by the defendants at all.”

The court was told the following day the girl did not go to school, but her brother did, where it was noticed he was limping.

Upon examination by one of the teachers, it was discovered that on the sole of his left foot there was a large blister and a bruise.  His left hand was also visibly swollen.

The boy told his teachers he had stood on a piece of glass which caused the injury to his foot and that he had trapped his hand in the door, although he was not believed.

Mr White continued: “A social worker attended their home and examined the girl and found she had bruising on her buttocks and also a large blister on the sole of her left foot.

“The social worker told Baghdadi that he was taking the children to hospital for examination by a paediatrician, where they received treatment for their injuries.”

The burn to the girl’s foot was so severe that a skin graft was required, and she was hospitalised for an operation to repair the injury.

The two children and their three siblings were immediately taken into care and an investigation was carried out, but failed to determine how the injuries were caused, and following police interviews no further action was taken.

After the girl reported the incidents to police 33 years later in 2018, Baghdadi and Kapadia, now both in their 60s, were first charged with child neglect, but this was later amended to ABH.

They both pleaded guilty to the historical offences, which were described by Baghdadi’s barrister, Jennifer Josephs, as "cruel and unusual punishments".

In mitigation both defence barristers said their clients were completely different women now and had lived positive law-abiding lives since the atrocities.

Reference was made to the sister’s ages, as well as their ill health, and a non-custodial sentence was mitigated for.

Judge Andrew Jeffries said: “I can’t remember how long it’s been since I have dealt with a case with such antiquity.

"You both were quite young at the time of these offences and there’s no suggestion that you have behaved in a similar way since.”

Both women were handed 30 weeks in prison suspended for 12 months.

Baghdadi was ordered to carry out 25 rehabilitation activity days, and Kapadia was placed on a 60 day curfew between the hours of 6pm and 6am.

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