Canadian bridal shop owner who put child onto a coat hook cleared by court

The bridal shop owner, Rodney Philpott (left), was found guilty of assaulting the child in Provincial Court in July.

A Canadian bridal shop owner will not face conviction for hanging a 7-year-old boy by a coat hook until his face turned purple, after a judge ruled that the shopkeeper posed no threat to the public.

The bridal shop owner, Rodney Philpott, 54, was found guilty of assaulting the child in Provincial Court in July. However, in September, a judge granted Philpott an absolute discharge – a sentence in Canada where a finding of guilt carries no criminal conviction – calling the act ill-advised “horseplay”.