A woman accused of assaulting her young son has been cleared of the charges in Magistrates’ Court.Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner yesterday ruled that the woman did not use unreasonable force when she hit the child with a belt, causing bruising.“What I do find is a mother with strong views on discipline but there is nothing to indicate she went overboard, and the use of a belt was not unreasonable,” said Mr Warner.“I’m not satisfied that the force used was unreasonable. I therefore find you not guilty and discharge you.”The boy’s mother admitted using the belt to discipline the child on a date between May 1 and May 31 this year, but said the punishment was lawful chastisement.Her policeman husband, the boy’s stepfather, had also been accused of assaulting the child. He was cleared of those charges earlier this month.Neither the defendants nor the child can be named for legal reasons.In 2006, on another case, Mr Warner refused to accept the guilt of a woman who admitted hitting and injuring her son. The Senior Magistrate said the case should never have come to court.The mother admitted assault causing bodily harm to the seven-year-old, but claimed she gave him a black eye and scratches by accident.After hearing a summary of the case, Mr. Warner said: “I don’t know why this matter is being prosecuted.” Refusing to accept the guilty plea, he ordered the case to go to trial the following year.The mother told the magistrate: “I didn’t mean to do what I done. I was stressed out ... and was having an anxiety attack.”Mr Warner agreed parents were not allowed to abuse their children, but said in law if the injury was an accident, this was a defence. He also said the law allowed parents to chastise their children without it being assault.Yesterday, Mr Warner said he wasn’t satisfied it was the defendant who caused the child’s injuries. He disagreed it was a case of “corporal punishment gone wrong”.The mother, who stood clutching her husband’s arm during the ruling, broke down in tears on hearing she had been cleared. She hugged her husband and left the packed courtroom right away.The boy’s father later said he would appeal the magistrate’s ruling.“This case is going to be appealed and I am pushing for nothing less; it has to be appealed,” he said.“Since he has been in my care he is doing a lot better but no child, not just my child, no child deserves the brutal beating that my son took.”Sheelagh Cooper, of the Coalition for the Protection of Children, yesterday said she was “horrified” by the ruling.