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The Review Online
Couple Jailed Over Hell
25th June 2009
A couple from York have been jailed for three years each for their part in the horrific treatment of their three young children at their home in the Clifton area of the city, writes Shae Courtney.
The twenty-six-year-old man and the twenty-four-year-old woman, who cannot be named for the protection of the children, were jailed after pleading guilty to child cruelty. The three children, two girls and one boy, were found by police in squalid conditions. A neighbour, who contacted authorities, after the condition of the exterior of the house became cause for concern, raised the alarm.
The police uncovered festering rubbish, rotting food, urine and faecal matter in numerous locations about the premises. The court was told how the three siblings were forced to share a heavily soiled and stinking bed and were found wearing nappies that had not been changed for a significant time. The windows had been covered up and the children deprived of natural light.
Debbie Owen, Detective Constable of the Protecting Vulnerable Persons Unit in York, led the investigation by North Yorkshire Police. Owen commented: “The stench of the place was unbelievable. The only words to describe the house was a hell hole." Owen added, “It is very satisfying that the couple have been brought to justice for the horrific conditions they forced upon their children. The way they subjected them to cruelty, neglect and abuse is truly shocking in this day and age." Pictures from the house reveal a black dustbin bag beneath the toilet pan for the collection of human waste, as the toilet was not functioning. Judge Stephen Ashurst prosecuting said the children had been “prisoners in their own home" and unable even to play in the garden. Ashurst said that the home had deteriorated to such a degree because of the couple’s “self obsessed” actions.
The twenty-six-year-old man and the twenty-four-year-old woman, who cannot be named for the protection of the children, were jailed after pleading guilty to child cruelty. The three children, two girls and one boy, were found by police in squalid conditions. A neighbour, who contacted authorities, after the condition of the exterior of the house became cause for concern, raised the alarm.
The police uncovered festering rubbish, rotting food, urine and faecal matter in numerous locations about the premises. The court was told how the three siblings were forced to share a heavily soiled and stinking bed and were found wearing nappies that had not been changed for a significant time. The windows had been covered up and the children deprived of natural light.
Debbie Owen, Detective Constable of the Protecting Vulnerable Persons Unit in York, led the investigation by North Yorkshire Police. Owen commented: “The stench of the place was unbelievable. The only words to describe the house was a hell hole." Owen added, “It is very satisfying that the couple have been brought to justice for the horrific conditions they forced upon their children. The way they subjected them to cruelty, neglect and abuse is truly shocking in this day and age." Pictures from the house reveal a black dustbin bag beneath the toilet pan for the collection of human waste, as the toilet was not functioning. Judge Stephen Ashurst prosecuting said the children had been “prisoners in their own home" and unable even to play in the garden. Ashurst said that the home had deteriorated to such a degree because of the couple’s “self obsessed” actions.