Caters
A mother went out clubbing and left her three young children home alone.
Concerned neighbours found the children, aged three, four and seven, running naked, covered in faeces, in the street.
When she got back Laura Palmer, 26, tried to dodge police by hiding in her garden shed. She was discovered drunk and still dressed in her clubbing outfit.
Social worker Jacqueline Feeney told Hull Crown Court of the revolting condition of the house in Sutton, East Hull.
She said: "The home conditions were in a poor state and it was uninhabitable for children."
The home was covered in excrement, rubbish and decaying food. Mattresses had no covers on them and the bath was full of rubbish.
Despite the shocking state of her home and children, Palmer glammed up for her court appearances in false nails, hair extensions and fake tan.
She pleaded guilty to three counts of child cruelty and neglect between December 31, 2010, to June 14 last year.
Prosecutor Nick Adlington told the court: "Concerned members of the public called the police because the children were running around near fast-moving traffic.
"The police took the children back to their home address. It was in a terrible state, covered in excrement and dirt and the children could access dangerous areas of the house, including the kitchen.
"The defendant was, in due course, found in the garden shed intoxicated, having been out the night before and was still dressed for a night out.
"The officers described the house as being in a vile state.
Food debris was all over the living room, the sofa was filthy, there was a broken tumble dryer in the kitchen, there was no bedding on some of the beds and there was rubbish in the bath. There was excrement everywhere and a general air of neglect.
The court heard Palmer left the children on June 13 last year at 11.30pm after putting them to bed to go out drinking.
She claimed she had fallen asleep on her friend's sofa and returned home the following morning to find the police there.
In the meantime, her children had climbed out of a window and were spotted running around naked.
At 9.30am, police received numerous calls from members of the public.
The children led officers back to their home, where they climbed in through a window.
Palmer had spotted the police van outside her house when she returned home and had hidden in the shed. Police also had to enter the house through a window because Palmer had lost her door keys.
Palmer, who has two previous cautions for shoplifting, told the police: "I have never done it before. I'm devastated. There is no excuse.
"I just lost the plot and gave up on the house.
"Everything was a total tip. I was expecting to be rehoused."
Social worker Ms Feeney had visited the family a month earlier and described the house as 'smelly and untidy' and noted the carpet was 'sticky'.
However, the social worker said conditions then were not as bad as they noted on June 14.
Recorder Paul Miller told unemployed Palmer: "You left them in a property, that had been reduced to a disgusting state during your occupancy, while you went out for a night of entertainment.
"Your children were found in the street, anything could have happened to them but happily they came to no physical or psychological harm.
"It is clear not all of your problems are your own making. You have suffered a depressive period in the past, but it is no excuse to effectively give up responsibility for your children when you are the sole carer.
He added:
In the future put your children first – not having a good time.
Palmer was given a four-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months and a 12-month supervision order.
Let's hope these neglected children get some care and attention now.