'Devil dad' to hear his fate today

A 'DEVIL dad' convicted of 16 offences of cruelty to his children was due to be sentenced today.

'Jekyll and Hyde' character Terrence Eames was expected to be handed a lengthy jail sentence at Derby Crown Court.

The 53-year-old, of Woodville Road, Hartshorne, was convicted on Tuesday, November 10, at Leicester Crown Court after jurors heard how he hit his children around the head and dangled a terrified son over a staircase by his ankles.

The offences were said to have taken place between 1987 and 2000, when the family lived at three different addresses in North West Leicestershire.

Eames denied all of the allegations, which he said had never happened.

Instead, he insisted he was the victim of a conspiracy by his ex-wife, who he claimed had poisoned the children's minds against him.

He initially faced 26 counts of child cruelty but was cleared of 10 of the charges and two of causing actual bodily harm to the children's mother, his then wife, who claimed he punched her in the face.

During the trial, Eames's ex-wife, Joanne, alleged he was a 'control freak' and 'a Jekyll and Hyde' character.

At one point, she glared at him in the dock and shouted: "You're evil".