Leeds parents who neglected their four children for two years avoid immediate jail sentence at Leeds Crown Court

Judge Mushtaq Khokar made the comments after the woman and her partner avoided immediate jail after neglecting their four children for two years.

The dad singled out one of the children by locking him in his bedroom where he had just a bed and no toys.

Leeds Crown Court heard the mum had previously had a number of children taken into care because she could not look after them.

At the time of the offences, the couple, who cannot be named in order to protect the children's identities, had been together for over a decade and their four children were all under the age of 11.

Prosecutor Mark McKone said teachers noticed the two eldest children attended school covered in bruises.

He said the eldest boy would go to school with bruises, holes in his shoes and clothes, scruffy hair and was 'dirty and smelly'.

Police attended the family's house on July 1, 2018 and found the boy locked in his bedroom wearing a ripped T-shirt.

There was only a bed in the room and his toys had been locked in the shed.

The boy told police that his toys being locked away made him feel sad.

Another one of the children's bedrooms was clean, tidy and nicely decorated.

Police attended the house later that day and found the eldest boy locked in his bedroom again.

The boy told officers that he hated his hair and his dad made fun of him for it.

The children were examined by doctors the following week and the two eldest children each had more than 30 bruises or scratches on their bodies.

There was evidence that the eldest child had been emotionally abused.

The second eldest child's teeth were decaying and her mum was unable to say when she had last been to the dentist.

She had also missed numerous GP reviews and occupational therapy appointments.

It was noted that one of the younger children was 'frozen and terrified' and likely to have witnessed the abuse of a sibling.

His teeth were also causing him pain and he was constipated.

The court was told the children are now 'thriving' in foster care.

The mum admitted three counts of child cruelty in relation to three of the children while the dad pleaded guilty to one count of child cruelty in relation to the eldest boy.

Both admitted the offences on the basis that they had not physically abused the children.

The mum was handed an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to complete a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

The dad was handed an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to complete a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement and 100 hours of unpaid work.

The court was told the pair were both neglected by their own parents and were afraid to ask authorities for help out of fear of the children being taken away from them.

Andrew Nixon, mitigating for the mum, said: "She had a profound wish to offer good and loving care, while lacking the knowledge to do it."

Kate Batty, mitigating for the dad, said her client was not prepared for the birth of his first child and had limited examples of good parenting in his own life.

She said he did not know how to cope with challenging behaviour so resorted to locking the boy in his bedroom.

Judge Khokar told the mother: "It is unlikely you will ever be allowed to keep a child."