A 37-year-old St. Elizabeth woman who tied a length of rope around her eight-year-old daughter's neck and dragged her around the house, was yesterday sentenced to two years probation with supervision, training and counselling.

Claudette Forbes, a farmer of Burnt Ground district, Santa Cruz, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm when she appeared in the Santa Cruz Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday. Forbes, the court heard, was under tremendous stress, due to domestic problems with her daughter's father.

The court also heard that her daughter stole money from the home and allegedly did the same at school, bringing shame to the family.

It is alleged that on October 19, when the child returned home from school, Forbes held her in anger, and quarelled about her father and her alleged stealing habits. The mother then reportedly put the rope around her neck and hauled her around the house. When the child went quiet, she reportedly loosened her hold. The young child sustained bruises and cuts to several sections around her neck.

The matter was reported to the Santa Cruz police the same day and Forbes was arrested and charged on October 25.

She is to attend counselling twice a week.