Turning to discipline, Jeremy said they were occasionally smacked. The smacks had been delivered with the flat of the hand only. He acknowledged that his father had been strict at times, as he had to be, but he said he was easy going and a lot of fun.
Vanessa said on the other hand that she remembered her father being strict. He did not talk much to the children about their mother. The subject was simply never raised. In the home Vanessa said everybody had allocated jobs which were expected to be done according to a rota. There would be punishments. Mr. Park would line the children up and smack them. However, the smacks were not always hard. Mr. Park had used a stick or cane. This had been when they were about nine or ten. He would line them up and they were punished until someone owned up about the misdemeanour in issue. She agreed, however, that Gordon Park had done a pretty good job as a lone parent. The stick punishments were on two or three occasions. It was rare, and she said that her father had been a loving parent.
Rachel Garcia as she now is, the youngest child, said her father was loving, supportive, caring and kind. She described him as a fantastic father. She would discuss any difficult issues she had with him, although he would not discuss his own emotional issues with her. If the children were disciplined, she said it would be by a telling off. If they were very bad they were sent to their rooms and grounded. On rare occasions they might be smacked. She had no recollection she said of a stick being used. She was asked about her statement to the police in 1997, in which she had said this: "Another occasion I remember that involved a family dispute was over the Easter period, when we were questioned by my father about a piece of Easter egg being missing. Cath" - that presumably is Cath Sillars - "had asked all her children if any of them were responsible, but they all denied it. I strongly believe one of them was responsible. Because neither Vanessa or Jeremy owned up, I can remember my father taking us to the garage. He lined us up, began hitting us individually with a belt across the top of our legs. He repeatedly asked before each strike who had taken the chocolate egg. I was hit about six times before I owned up, despite the fact it was not me." In her evidence to you, Mrs. Garcia denied that strongly. She said it did not happen. She said it got into the statement because she was traumatised at the time and the police had put words into her mouth. She said that when the statement was taken she was asked a multitude of questions. She had the impression the police had an agenda, and if she said anything positive about her father, it was ignored. They only took notice of the negative.