Mother 'abandoned role as parent' as Leeds home found covered in excrement and flies
A mother was told she had “abandoned her role as a parent” after her home was left in a filthy state with faeces, urine and a fly infestation.
Officers were so concerned for the welfare of her children that they forced entry to the home in east Leeds and were met with squalid conditions.
The 35-year-old, who cannot be named to protect the identity of her children, appeared at Leeds Crown Court this week where she admitted a charge of ill-treating or neglect of a child.
There were binbags of rubbish piled up, dirty clothes strewn around, excrement on the floor and smeared around, mouldy and rotting food on the floor, a smashed TV in the corner, nowhere to sit and the beds had no bedding.
The authorities were first alerted after the school contacted her to ask about her son being absent, but she became aggressive.
The police were alerted and went to her home, eventually forcing their way in after speaking with the woman on the phone.
She was arrested and told officers during her interview that her son had made the mess, she had asked social services for help but said they did little.
She said she eventually had “given up because there was too much to do”.
She had seven previous convictions for 10 offences, although none are for child neglect. Mitigating, Andrew Semple said the mother-of-four had entered an early guilty plea and that it was “very much a wake-up call”.
He said: “By the time this came about, she was feeling a massive degree of overwhelm.”
He said she now realised that “running away or burying your head was not the way forward”.
He said the home was now safe and had been cleared, although her two children under 18 were no longer living with her.
Judge Ray Singh told the woman: “You are in a position as a parent to ensure the safe being and welfare of these children.
“You have failed in that duty. You blame everybody say yourself. You blamed your son, you blame social services.
“I come to the firm conclusion that you lack any acceptance of responsibility for the squalid condition this house was in.
“You abandoned your role as a parent. I do not accept you saying you had no practical help. Your backstop has always been ‘I get no help’.”
With neither of her young children living with her, Judge Singh it would make little difference if she were to be jailed, but he opted to suspend her sentence.
Judge Singh gave her eight months’ jail, suspended for two years, 30 rehabilitation days and 80 hours of unpaid work.