‪A north Cumbria man was caught on camera repeatedly striking his stepson on the head and legs.‬

‪The man, in his forties, has now been warned he could be jailed for persistent offending which occurred during the course of a month last year.‬

‪When he appeared at Carlisle Crown Court on Friday, the man pleaded guilty to one charge of cruelty to a person aged under 16. This stated that, having responsibility for the child, he engaged in criminal conduct in a manner likely to cause the youngster “unnecessary suffering.”

‪Court papers show the man had done this, during a period of several weeks, in a number of different ways: “By repeatedly striking him to the head and legs; threatening him; denigrating him; throwing clothes at him; and by shouting and swearing at him.‬”

‪The court was told these illegal acts were “all captured on CCTV”, and the defendant accepted what was shown.

‪Prosecutor Charles Brown told the court there were a total of 13 separate video clips, each lasting less than a minute.‬

‪Clare Thomas, defending, said the man had only one criminal conviction to his name. She asked that the case be adjourned for the preparation of a probation service pre-sentence report.‬

‪Recorder Katherine Pierpoint agreed, and directed the man should be sentenced at the crown court on August 6.‬

A one-hour sentencing hearing was listed.

In the meantime the man - who can’t be named to protect the identity of the child - was granted conditional bail by Recorder Pierpoint.‬

‪But the judge warned him the fact he was being bailed shouldn’t be taken as any indication of the likely sentence.‬

‪“All options will be open to the judge on the next occasion, including the imposition of a custodial sentence,” she said.