Drunken Pudsey mum has children removed due to filthy home
A drunken mum had her children removed from her care after the youngsters were forced to live in squalid conditions.
Leeds Crown Court heard that dog faeces covered the kitchen floor, the children had a bath just once a month and the toilet was in such a poor condition one of the children did not use it.
The 34-year-old mum, who cannot be named to protect the children’s identity, was given a suspended sentence this week after admitting a charge of neglect.
Prosecutor Heather Gilmore said the children were living in unsanitary conditions between March and July, 2022.
One of the children, who were aged around 11 and 7 at the time, sent pictures of the house to their father, showing the mould and mess and that their mother was drunk. The concerned father then picked up the children to stay with him.
The police were contacted and officers visited the address in July 2022. They found the front and back gardens cluttered with mess. Nobody answered the door so they let themselves in.
They found the mother asleep on foam placed underneath a bunk bed. She was drunk and arrested. Her daughter later told police that their mother would drink and they could often not wake her.
Her son said the house was always messy, there were “lots of bugs” and their mother would drink a bottle of vodka a day.
During her police interview, the woman admitted the home was a “bit messy” but initially denied the children were neglected. She said the puppy they had which had fouled the kitchen floor had since been rehomed.
Mitigating, Catherine Duffy said the woman now accepted it was “prolonged neglect”, but she suffered from ADHD and PTSD.
She said the woman’s anxiety has spiralled because an ex partner, who had been serving a sentence for offences against her, was due for release. She said she had used alcohol to cope, but was now abstaining.
Miss Duffy said: “The greatest punishment has been the removal of her children. She is an extremely vulnerable lady.”
Judge Tahir Khan KC told the woman: “There was mould and mess in the house. It was so messy your daughter would not use the toilet.
“The fact it was a prolonged period of neglect is a serious aggravating feature.”
He gave her 12 months’ jail, suspended for two years, and 30 rehabilitation days.