A childcare worker was today found guilty of assaulting a child in her care by taping her to a seat at a nursery in Co Down.
Nichola Montgomery (22), of Silverstream Drive in Bangor was fined £200 each for two offences which took place at the Bright Beginnings Nursery on the town's Old Belfast Road in the spring of 2001.
Her co-accused, Ms Julie-Anne Massey (23), of Silverstream Park in the town, was acquitted of one charge of assault on the two-year-old child today at Bangor Magistrates Court.
The trial of the two women heard allegations that the girl was taped to a chair when she refused to sit down. Both defendants denied the charges throughout the trial, and a third charge against Montgomery was dismissed during the hearing.
Magistrate Ms Bonita Boyd said the prosecution had failed to prove the case against Ms Massey. However, convicting Montgomery on two counts, she said the woman knew what she was doing and her actions were wilful and intentional.
Passing sentence, she said that although the case was emotive, it was not the most serious of its type. "There was no persistent cruelty," she added.
Montgomery has lodged an appeal, her lawyers said.