The Board of Ministers approved a Royal Decree for the partial pardon of a mother who had refused her wife-beating husband shared custody of their daughter.

María Salmerón, 51, was adamant; no matter what the magistrate said, she was not going to leave her 15-year-old daughter in the hands of the father, who had been found guilty in 2009 of domestic violence – she would go to prison, if necessary, to make sure that her daughter never had to go through what she had gone through.

The father had been sentenced to 21 months imprisonment for physical, psychological and sexual violence, however, as the sentence was inferior to two years, and as it was a first offence, the sentence was automatically converted to a suspended sentence.

The partial pardon changes the mother’s prison sentence to a 30-day, community service order. The mother was to enter prison on the 20th of July to serve a 4-month sentence.

This is the third partial pardon that she has received; the latest was in February for the same thing; i.e., not permitting the father access to his daughter despite the shared-custody condition laid down by a magistrate. That time around the prison sentence had been six months, which was commuted to community service, as well.

There has been a huge public outcry over this, which is why the Government has issued the second pardon, which is basically patching a hole rather than fixing the problem.

Many feel that a parent found guilty of domestic violence should not be awarded custody of his or her children in a divorce settlement.

Editorial Comment: Even though the daughter, Miriam, expressed her rejection of her father’s shared custody, the magistrate went ahead and gave him this shared custody. The irony is that the father, condemned for domestic violence, didn’t have to go to prison, but the mother, the victim, very nearly did, to shield her daughter from him. Ludicrous or what?

(News: Dos Hermanas, Sevilla, Andalucia)