The 38-year-old man was charged with attempted murder after he hurled his little girl off the roof of his shack in Kwadwesi, South Africa in April of last year.

Footage of the incident shows the man, whose name has not been revealed to protect the identity of the child, in a standoff with riot police.

Armed officers patrol the roofs of nearby shacks.

As the father is approached from behind by an officer, he throws the child over the edge.

Fortunately, an officer at the base of the building catches the girl before she hit the ground.

The unnamed father had climbed on top of the illegally built shack in protest against dozens of homes being eyed for demolition.

Officers first charged the man with attempted murder.

But on Wednesday, he was handed a suspended sentence after he pleaded guilty in the New Brighton Magistrate's Court for a lesser charge of child abuse after the state dropped charges of attempted murder.

AWFUL: The father threw the child off the roof

He was fined 5,000 rands (£264.90) and handed a sentence of one year in jail, suspended for five years.

The South African Police Service had initially been sent in to ensure the safety of the demolition team after 150 protesters began throwing bricks and closing off roads with burning tyres.

Just as calm was being restored, the man climbed onto the roof of his shack with his child before threatening to throw her to her death if the demolishers did not back off and leave his home alone.

When negotiators failed to talk the father down, police launched a rescue plan which ended successfully with the dad's arrest and the safe recovery of the toddler.

SURROUNDED: The man was surrounded by police

Police spokesman Captain Andre Beetge told local media: “At about 10.40am a 38-year-old man climbed onto the roof of one of the structures and held a one-year-old girl in his hands.


Captain Beetge said the baby had been handed back to its 35-year-old mother and local social services are overseeing their case to ensure the child is in a place of safety.

The demolition team later moved in and successfully destroyed 90 structures that had been built illegally on unowned land.