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Children found living in squalor

From the Wiltshire Times, first published Friday 17th Feb 2006.

A COUPLE who forced their two young children to live in squalor were only discovered by accident during a police search.

The pair, aged 22 and 19, who live near Corsham, cannot be named to protect the identity of the two children, who are both under three-years-old. Officers discovered the flat was piled high with rubbish, work surfaces were covered in grease and there was overflowing animal litter during a search in November.

The problem went unnoticed because the couple met health workers at a grandparent's house and not their own home.

The pair were charged with two counts of child neglect and both pleaded guilty last month.

On Wednesday, they were given conditional discharges and ordered to pay £30 costs each at Chippenham magistrates' court.

Andy Pritchard, prosecuting, said: "Police attended the address of the two defendants in connection with a search warrant in November.

"The search was unsuccessful but they came across what one officer said was a strong nauseating smell of urine and faeces emanating from the flat'. "They found three and a half feet of refuse sacks piled up and empty pet food cans with sharp edges.

"There were overflowing animal litter trays and the work surfaces were covered in a rancid layer of grease. "This case was brought about on the basis of child neglect rather than deliberate cruelty.

"The children were not being mistreated but the environment in which they were being raised was entirely unsuitable."

The court heard the two children had been taken away from the couple for two weeks.

Magistrates were shown pictures of the flat at the time of the search and since the couple had cleaned up.

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