Trash talk :: August

August 30, 2006

Man jailed for ‘tumble drying toddler’
A Perth man who put his girlfriend’s baby in a clothes dryer and turned it on has been jailed for eight months.

A magistrate on Wednesday said 21-year-old Samuel Marc Barnes Siddall had acted out of stupidity rather than malice and, unbelievably, had not sought immediate medical attention for the injured 14-month-old girl.

Siddall of Beldon, had previously pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm by placing Mya Jade Jeffrey in the dryer and turning it on for about two minutes on May 25.

Mya’s mother, Marnie Jowett, who had left the toddler in Siddall’s care while she visited a gym, returned home to find her daughter shaking with pain from burns to her hands, feet and back, and bruises to her face and spine.

Siddall, who at the time was studying at university to become a teacher, had told Ms Jowett he had no idea how the girl was injured, before taking them both to hospital.

Siddall continued to deny knowing what had happened to the baby for several days before finally admitting to police what he had done.

The court was previously told Siddall put the girl in the tumble dryer because he thought it would be “fun” for her, like a “dizzy wizzy”.

However in Joondalup Magistrates Court, Magistrate Richard Bayly revealed that during his police interview, Siddall admitted putting the child in the dryer because he was “getting annoyed with her” because she was “crying and whingeing”.

“It was meant to indicate that he was frustrated with his own inability to make the child happy,” Siddall’s lawyer Ronald Smith explained to the court.

“He was annoyed with himself rather than the child.”

Mr Bayly said he accepted Siddall had acted out of stupidity rather than malice.

But he said a term of immediate imprisonment was the only appropriate sentence for such a serious offence.

He sentenced Siddall to 18 months prison but reduced it to eight months because of his guilty plea.

“It beggars belief, really, that immediately after taking the child out of the dryer you didn’t seek medical attention,” Mr Bayly said.

Mr Bayly did not make Siddall eligible for parole.

Mya has made a good recovery and is not expected to have any lasting scarring, the court was told.

***

咁都只係判八個月, 有無搞錯!

初初就話the baby had spilt liquid on herself and the man put her in the clothes dryer and turned it on, 跟住改口認 putting the child in the dryer because he was “getting annoyed with her” because she was “crying and whingeing”. 上到court 又話was only trying to give her “a fun time”, 個官咁都信, 識唔識判架!!

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少食多滋味

過量攝取維他命恐損肝腎 (明報)
08月 30日星期三 05:05AM

【明報專訊】坊間藥房出售的維他命丸、肝油丸、鈣片、礦物質丸等種類繁多，但藥劑師和營養師提醒市民，這些化學補充劑並非服用愈多愈好，以維他命為例，水溶性維他命如B和C，過量攝取，多餘的營養素會隨尿液排出，白費金錢﹔若屬脂溶性維他命如A、D、E、K，過量攝取更會令肝腎負荷過重而受損，甚至形成腎石、皮膚發黃，或令中樞神經系統受影響。

維他命丸劑量遠超身體所需

市面有維他命C丸的劑量，一粒達1000微克，遠超成人每日所需的10微克99倍﹔有維他命E丸劑量達500 IU（國際單位），較成人每日所需攝取量50 IU多﹔鈣片一粒劑量600微克，佔東方女性一天所需的75％，若加正常飯餐，有關維他命和鈣質攝取量全告超額。

中大公共衛生學院營養研究中心經理兼營養師史曼媚說，其實每天只要吃一個橙，便足以提供身體一天所需的維他命C，過量攝取後只會排出體外。長期服用高劑量維他命C，更可令本來有腎石的病人，腎石更快加大。至於維他命E，因有抗氧化作用，較受愛美女士歡迎，但服用過量卻會影響血液凝固。

中大藥劑學院助理教授李詠恩說，由於脂溶性的維他命須靠肝腎作新陳代謝，過量攝取會對肝腎造成負荷，如維他命D和E，攝取過多甚至會影響中樞神經系統。維他命A攝取過多，會令皮膚變橙和痕癢﹔而維他命K和「薄血藥」則會相，影響後者藥效。

至於鈣的攝取量，史曼眉說，西方人一般每日需要1200微克，東方人則稍少，對個子不高的女性而言，800微克已夠，但坊間鈣片劑量可達600微克，加上日常三餐，便會攝取過量，可致腎石或令有骨刺患者病情加重。

史曼眉指出，巿民透過均衡飲食，已可攝取足夠營養素和礦物質，切勿誤解營養素補充劑對身體更好，因為食物中仍有很多仍未發現的營養素，這是補充劑不能替代的。