Man convicted of child cruelty after he punished a six-year-old girl by forcing her to watch horror film ‘Night of the Living Dead’ TWENTY YEARS ago
Peter Bayliss was handed a suspended sentence for causing the girl 'psychological injury'
A MAN has been convicted of child cruelty - more than two decades after he punished a six-year-old girl by forcing her to watch horror film Night of the Living Dead.
Peter Bayliss, 53, was hauled before a crown court to face action over making the youngster sit through the gory movie as punishment for "behaving like a child."
He demanded the terrified girl watch the 18 certificate zombie film which contained "many frightening and intense scenes involving rotted corpses".
A court heard Bayliss, who had been looking after the girl in Malvern, Worcs., in the early 1990s, left her suffering from nightmares for "some time afterwards."
Last Friday he was convicted of one charge of child cruelty following a trial at Shrewsbury Crown Court.
Bayliss was handed a six-month suspended sentence, given an 18-month supervision order with the probation service and ordered to complete 160 hours of unpaid work.
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Bayliss is said to have been suffering from alcoholism at the time of the of the offence.
Sentencing, Recorder Martin Jackson said: "These offences date back 20 years and since then you have suffered a brain haemorrhage, from your psychological report that may have been linked to your alcohol addiction.
"I take into account that you have recently woken up to the need to seek professional help for your drinking.
"This was not sustained abuse but you, quite deliberately, made a child watch a horror film as punishment for behaving like a child.
"And she suffered, not a long-term psychological injury, but from evidence she suffered nightmares for some time afterwards."
The judge said he he did not want to impose a financial penalty as he was reliant on his wife's income and this would become a burden for the woman who was "wholly innocent" of the crime.
The court was told Bayliss, who now lives in Pembroke, Wales, had an ongoing alcohol problem, which affected his behaviour at the time of the incident.
The judge added that he had taken into account that Bayliss' life in Wales was now "more settled" than it had been at the time.
Night of the Living Dead was originally released in 1968, directed by George A. Romero and was considered one of the scariest movies ever made at the time.
This was not sustained abuse but you, quite deliberately, made a child watch a horror film as punishment for behaving like a child.
Martin Jackson
It starred Judith O'Dea, Duane Jones and S. William Hinzmann, and grossed $30,000,000 (£22m) worldwide.
The gory film centres around a group of people hide from bloodthirsty zombies in a farmhouse after they rise from the dead.
It was heavily criticised at the time for its explicit gore but is now considered a cult classic among legions of fans.
In 1990, director Tom Savini remade the original black-and-white movie with a cast including Tony Todd, Patricia Tallman and Tom Towles.
But by comparison it was a box office flop, grossing around $500,000 (£382,000).
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