A man accused of slapping his five-year-old nephew in the face, causing an injury to his eye, is to go on trial on May 25.

Oshane Nelson will be tried on a charge of cruelty to a child. He will be joined by the boy’s father, his brother, Kenroy, who was charged with failure to report cruelty to a child.

According to a police report, on March 7 the complainant was home with his uncle when he was hit in the face, allegedly after behaving rudely.

The court was told that the slap left the child’s eye with bloodshot marks that were still visible when the matter was reported a week later after an official from the child’s school intervened.

The father, who did not report the matter, and his brother were subsequently arrested and charged.

But last Thursday when the matter was mentioned, the father told the court that the incident was purely accidental and that his brother had since apologised.

However, Judge Pettigrew-Collins told him that the matter was not going away so easily and that someone needed to put the child’s interest first.

The judge told the brothers that there are other ways to scold a child.

“This is a matter I believe that requires the intervention of the Child Development Agency,” she said before extending the men’s bail.