assaulting her son with a wooden spoon out of hurt and frustration.

Tracy Bean, of Mount View Road, Pembroke, pleaded guilty yesterday in Magistrates' Court to wilfully assaulting her nine-year-old son by repeatedly assaulting him with a wooden spoon causing bruising to his leg.

Crown Counsel Leslie Basden said the child told Police of the assault on April 20.

The child told Police his mother picked him up from his godmother's house after school one afternoon and took him home.

Once home, he said his mother took him into her bedroom and hit him repeatedly with the spoon.

Ms Basden said the mother admitted hitting her son and claimed she did so because she had so much anger inside her.

Bean, the mother of two, added that she was feeling hurt and mad at the time of the assault.

"I didn't mean to do it,'' she told Police. "I just had so much pressure inside of me. I didn't mean to do it. I hope he can forgive me some day.

"I need help with my anger and someone to talk to,'' she added.

Ms Basden told the court that since the incident, Bean's two children have been in foster care.

Ms Basden added that she believed it was a one-time incident, prompted by her son getting into trouble at school.

Senior Magistrate Will Francis ordered a social inquiry report and adjourned the matter until July 14.

Bean was granted bail in the sum of $500.