Mother to be sentenced on neglect charges today

THE MOTHER of six children who were forced to live in a filthy home, where mice ran on top of urine-drenched beds  and where there was rarely food, is due to be sentenced today. She has pleaded guilty to two counts of incest and two charges of sexual abuse against a son, and also to neglecting and ill-treating each of her children from 1998 to 2004.

Roscommon Circuit Court heard yesterday that the children had head lice so big  that they ran down their faces.

The children also had fleas and were taunted at school and on the bus because they smelled as their clothes were never washed.

The children, who are now aged from 10 to 19, are  living in three separate foster homes,  having been taken into care in 2004.

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

He told gardaí 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 bedclothes were never changed even though two of the children wet the bed,  and that his mother regularly went out drinking,  sometimes until  3am or 4am.

He said that social workers and home helps used to come to the house and that the mother made the children tidy up before these visits. The court heard that the cups were taken out and that food was bought for these visits.

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.

Sgt 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. It was not possible to see the kitchen table because of the dirt. Clothes were never washed and were packed into bags.

One of the  woman’s daughters told Sgt Hynes  that she was sometimes slapped on the bare bum. Sometimes there was no food for breakfast and no food when they got home from school. The beds were never changed and were smelly.

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 gardaí they were bullied at school. Nobody wanted to sit beside them because they were smelly. Once another child drew a picture of a monkey and put her name on it.

She could feel head lice crawling down her face and she tried to snatch them off so no one would see them. Her mother told her not to tie up her hair so no one would see the lice.

When she scratched her head she could see head lice and dirt under her nails. There was never heating in the house – just a fire in the sitting room if  her mother was there.

The child said she  was afraid to go out in the dark to get coal when her mother was out in the pub. Sometimes the bread was green and she could not eat breakfast but some of the younger children would eat it. The milk was often sour. There were maggots in clothes and her mother found two dead mice under the bed.

Her older brothers used to watch naked women on the television when her mother wasn’t there and they would not let the smaller children into the room, the court heard.

Another child said that their mother was sometimes so drunk when she came home that she staggered and they did not understand what she was saying.

Judge Reynolds was told that the defendant’s sister told gardaí 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 child was wearing shoes which were two sizes too small when he arrived. All were infested with head lice.

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 and sometimes they were blue with the cold.

They got a proper dinner on the two days a week that social workers called.