A LARKFIELD man who waited until the day of his trial to admit he assaulted a child to injury has failed in a bid to avoid being convicted for the offence.

Richard Footit, 36, was seeking an absolute discharge for the 'isolated incident' of losing his temper and kicking the young girl.

Defence lawyer Aidan Gallagher pointed to his client's work with two charitable groups who help offenders.

But Sheriff Joseph Hughes said he was 'not persuaded' not to record a conviction on Footit's criminal record.

The Telegraph told in March how Footit's victim was in the sheriff court building ready to give evidence via a CCTV link when Mr Gallagher negotiated a plea of guilty to an amended charge.

He had originally been accused of kicking the child 'repeatedly' but this was changed to a single blow following talks between Mr Gallagher and the Crown.

The court heard how Footit had 'momentarily' lost his temper with the girl during a row over her wanting to take her laptop computer to school.

Mr Gallagher said that his client had 'found it difficult to accept' what he'd done.

Footit kicked the child — whom the court heard was having a 'temper tantrum' — to her right upper thigh/hip area, causing a bruise, after she had spent the night at his Devon Road home.

The incident, for which the court heard Footit had expressed 'deep remorse', occurred on the morning of September 21 last year.

Solicitor Mr Gallagher said: "This appears to have been an isolated incident.

"He has genuinely moved on and had not been in trouble since 2015.

"He had been working for two charitable organisations that work with the police and social work for those who find themselves in police custody, and to break the cycle of offending of individuals."

Mr Gallagher added: "The child has confirmed that her own behaviour was unacceptable, so I think there's regret across the board."

Sheriff Joseph Hughes told Footit: "I have taken into account your amended plea, the timing of it and the content of the criminal justice social work report.

"I have also considered carefully your previous convictions.

"I am not persuaded not to move to conviction, but I will bring this case to an end which will allow parties to move on.

"You will be admonished."