Mother due to be sentenced on neglect charges

The mother of six children who were forced to live in a filthy conditions in a home where there was rarely food, is due to be sentenced tomorrow on charges of neglect.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has pleaded guilty to charges of incest, sexual assault and wilful neglect and is being sentenced at Roscommon Circuit Court.

Their plight came to the attention of gardai after the oldest child made certain disclosures to social workers in 2004.

He told gardai that the house was cold, the walls were damp, the range in the kitchen was lit about once a month, that all the rooms were “kips” that there was rubbish strewn everywhere, that bed clothes were never changed even though two of the children wet the bed and that his mother regularly went out drinking, sometimes until 3 or 4am.

Judge Miriam Reynolds heard that so much rubbish was dumped in a shed at the back of the house that it was falling out the door and that the cats used to leave dead rats at the back door . Five rats were piled up at the door on one occasion.

A series of photographs were shown to the judge illustrating the filth in the house.

Sergant John Hynes said that it seemed that nothing was ever thrown out, kitchen utensils were never washed , the bathroom was in an appalling state, the toilet was never flushed and dirty water was left in the sink and that the kitchen table could not be seen because of the dirt.

One of the woman’s daughters told Sergant Hynes her mother used to go to the pub and was drunk when she got home. She said that on the school bus other children said they were smelly and would not let them sit down.

Another child told gardai that they were bullied at school.

Judge Miriam Reynolds was told that the defendant’s sister told gardai that she had always been selfish and did not care about anyone else as long as she got what she wanted. She said that when the children visited her she would take them shopping and give them money for sweets but they spent it on food like tins of salmon which they would bring home to the rest of the children.

A foster mother who in 2004 looked after five of the children said that all their clothes had to be burnt. One small child was self harming sticking pencils under his nails until they bled.

The court heard that the mother estimated that she got up to €900 in children’s allowance and most of that was spent on drink. She admitted that her children were left hungry, their clothes and sometimes they were blue with the cold.

The woman is due to be sentenced tomorrow.