A childminder who slapped a six-year-old boy in her care was convicted of assault yesterday.
Mary Cryan (47), St Anne's Road, South Circular Road, Dublin, denied the charge and claimed she was only moving the boy out of the way so that he would not be hit by another child coming towards him on a bicycle in Ranelagh Park.
But Judge Desmond Hogan accepted the evidence of two passers-by who said they saw her strike the boy on January 24th last. He adjourned sentence until March when a probation report on Ms Cryan will be available.