Parents who forced children to live in 'filth' sentenced for child neglect

A mother and father who kept the fridge padlocked shut and left their children living in squalor have been handed suspended prison sentences.

Police found their children barefoot and sparsely dressed in a fly-infested Camden flat when they were called out to investigate serious welfare concerns.

Wood Green crown court heard there was no shampoo or soap in the bathroom of the north London flat, officers struggled to locate toys in the sparsely furnished lounge, the rooms were dimly lit, and two of the children slept on a mattress on the floor.

In sharp contrast, the bedroom used by the parents was cosily fitted out with a double bed and TV, together with soft furnishings, piles of cushions, house plants and stuffed panda bears.

The mother was a strict vegan who had an “eccentric view of food and water”, the court heard, including refusing to allow the children to drink tap water.

Both the mother and the father were convicted by a jury of child neglect and cruelty over the grim living conditions.

At sentencing last week, Judge Joanna Greenberg KC concluded that the parents “both loved your children” but had neglected them through “grossly incompetent parenting skills”.

Commenting on the bathroom, she said: “They couldn’t even wash their hands, no towels, nothing. It’s just bizarre.”

She told the parents: “You were naïve and had inadequate coping abilities.

“This was a course of persistent and entrenched behaviour – you both chose to have a very large family but were unwilling or unable to care for their needs so far as their living conditions.”

The children have now been taken into foster care since the police raid in November 2022, while a review is underway into past interactions between social services, healthcare workers, and the family.

The state of the family home came to police attention when the youngest child fell ill and needed hospital treatment. The court heard the child had suffered diarhoea for several days before the parents sought medical help.

When investigated, the father pretended to be the children’s uncle while the couple insisted that the home was undergoing refurbishment at the time.

The parents cannot be identified to protect the court-ordered anonymity of their children.

Images of the home reveal a kitchen with rubbish strewn around the floor, flies and insects over the walls, and suspected mould in the hallway. Social workers from Camden council had been aware of the family since 2019, buthad struggled to gain entry to the home.  The mother was reluctant toattend medical appointments and insisted on only conversing with midwives viaemail after the birth of some of her children.

Onseeing the condition of some of the children, one social worker likened them toimpoverished street children where she had grown up in Uganda, with matted hairand dirty skin.

Whenpolice became involved, they found several of the children squeezed up togetheron the solitary sofa, all with bare feet and wearing shorts and T-shirts inNovember.

The room was lit up by a singlelamp, with no bulbs in any of the other light fittings.

The mother was a strict vegan whocontrolled the food intake of the children. Though the fridge was padlocked andthe cupboard bare, the judge concluded the children were not malnourished.

Judge Greenberg said the flat was“filthy” and noted there was no toilet paper in either bathroom.

“The children used kitchen rollwhich bunged up both toilets”, she said.

The judge saidthere was evidence from 2006 and 2015 of the home being in a “filthy andunhygienic state”, showing “long-standing issues with living standards” imposedon the children.

“There is noevidence that the health of the children has yet suffered,

Handing the couple,both in their 40s, suspended prison sentences, the judge said: “You have bothalready paid a very high price for your offending by the removal of yourchildren.”

The mother wassentenced to 20 months in prison, suspended for two years, while the fatherreceived a 16-month prison term, also suspended for two years.

Both have beenordered to complete up to 32 days of rehabilitation.

In a statementafter the sentencing hearing, a Camden Councilspokesperson said: “This case is subject to a local child safeguarding practicereview. Our priority is ensuring the care of the children and our children’sservices continue to support them.”