Man sentenced after washing child who used gay slur’s mouth out with soap

A 23-year-old man from Sunderland has been plead guilty to assault after washing out a child’s mouth with a bar of soap after he called him a “gay boy”.

Rian Birtwell, who used to babysit six-year-old Alfi Cook, was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay his victim £15, the Sunderland Echo reports.

Ryan Birtwell: “I accept what I did was wrong”. (Image: KTD Media)

During the incident on April 11, Birtwell saw the child – who police accept is “slightly out of control” – kicking away an old man’s walking stick while playing in a park near his home in Washington. When he confronted him, Alfi told him to “f*ck off” and called him a “gay boy”.

In an attempt to teach him a lesson, Birtwell  went to a nearby shop and bought a three-bar pack of soap, before returning to the park, pinning the boy to the ground and shoving it in his mouth.

The boy later told his family of the incident, an they contacted police.

Alfi Cook’s mother described the sentence as a “joke”. (Image: SNWS)

“He fully accepts in hindsight that that was not the best way to react,” Jason Smith, mitigating, told magistrates. “All Ryan was trying to do was teach the little boy some manners. Unfortunately, manners are in short supply nowadays.”

Birtwell said following the judgement: “I accept what I did was wrong, but I meant no harm, I just thought he needed to be taught a lesson because he behaved so badly and used language no six-year-old should be using.”

Meanwhile, Alfi’s mother described the sentence as a “joke.”

“Things are not as bad as have been said,” she said. “I admit that my son swore and he got wrong for that, but like I said to the police at the time, kids do that kind of thing.”