Stephanie Chibnall will be sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court

by Keith Hunt

A woman ill-treated three boys she temporarily looked after, making one of them clean his teeth with dog excrement smeared on the brush.

Stephanie Chibnall would also discipline the children by beating them with sticks, a jury at Maidstone Crown Court heard.

The 45-year-old, formerly of Jubilee Crescent, Gravesend, denied three charges of cruelty to a person under 16, but was convicted.

Adjourning sentence until the week beginning October 29 and granting bail, Judge David Griffith-Jones QC warned Chibnall she was likely to face a jail sentence.

Anthony Prosser, prosecuting, said one of the boys told his mother he had hidden some blades because he wanted to kill himself.

He said he had wanted to tell his mother that Chibnall had hit him with a stick on his knee and upper leg because he did not have any homework.

An investigation started. Teachers at the boy’s school noticed he had a large bruise from his left knee to the hip and described it as looking like he had been in a car crash.

"she made him go out into the garden and smear dog poo on it (the toothbrush)...” – anthony prosser, prosecuting

They thought it was more severe because of a medical condition he had. The boy said he had fallen over in the playground.

Teachers of one of the other boys saw he had a bruised face and swollen and cut lower lip. He at first claimed he had been hit by a swing but later said Chibnall had hit him in the mouth.

Mr Prosser said Chibnall was angry because a toothbrush was dirty.

When one of the boys did not own up, suspicion fell on him. “She made him go out into the garden and smear dog poo on it,” he said.

One of the boys spoke of being frequently beaten with sticks. A bamboo stick broke, so she hit them with another stick.

Chibnall emphatically denied assaulting the boys. She said she may have made them stand in the corner with their hands on their heads to discipline them.

She claimed the stick she had was to control her dogs and did not hit the children with it. She said she knew nothing about a toothbrush incident.

“In short, she said the boys were lying,” added the prosecutor.