A Pembrokeshire mother has been sentenced after her home was found in appalling conditions, with maggots and flies discovered in her children’s rooms and faeces smeared on walls and floors 😔
The woman, who cannot be identified to protect her children, appeared at Swansea Crown Court charged with two offences of wilful neglect of a child, with the neglect dating back to 2019.
Schools had consistently raised concerns about the children’s hygiene, with one child having a “pungent” odour and regularly attending with dirty fingernails, appearing tired with inadequate food for lunch. Teachers noted the child was using a mouldy towel after swimming lessons.
After a maggot was found in class, the child told their teacher they had maggots in the corner of their bedroom and in their bedding, and once said they couldn’t sleep at home due to the maggots in their bed.
When Pembrokeshire council officers visited the home in June last year, they found the fridge full of out-of-date food, the dining room “filled with clutter” with a broken washing machine in the middle, faeces smeared across walls and floors upstairs, and rubbish filling the children’s rooms.
The defendant told officers she “accepted the conditions inside the house were poor” and had “become nose-blind” to the smell, accepting she had “put her head in the sand like an ostrich”.
Hannah George, in mitigation, said the defendant’s “life fell off a cliff” after losing a family member, adding: “The defendant is ashamed. She’s embarrassed. She has done everything that she can to turn her life around.”
Judge Paul Thomas KC described the conditions as “appalling” and a “pigsty”. The woman, from the Milford Haven area, was sentenced to 21 months suspended for two years, with 150 hours of unpaid work and 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days.
Social services are planning a “phased transition” for the children to return to her care 👨👩👧👦
