Mansfield woman whose daughter was found filthy, hungry and naked in squalid drug den spared prison
A Mansfield woman whose daughter was found filthy, hungry and naked in a squalid drug den and surrounded by drug paraphernalia has been fined, a court has heard.
Becky Allsop, prosecuting, said police gained entry to the woman’s address and found the girl wrapped in a blanket on a bed that was “black with dirt”, with a used syringe nearby.
The girl, who smelled strongly of urine, faeces and cigarettes, had head lice and said she’d had nothing to eat that day and only a bag of crisps the day before.
The bath was full of rubbish, there were no toothbrushes or hygiene products, and the toilet was backed-up with human excrement with used toilet paper on the the floor.
There were empty alcohol bottles, metal spoons for cooking heroin and discarded needles in every room, and “nowhere for a child to be safe.”
The girl is now in the care of a relative, Ms Allsop added.
Her mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, initially claimed her daughter’s basic needs were being met and denied using drugs.
Morgan Hogarth, mitigating, said the defendant, who is of previous good character, was remorseful and now working and completely clean of class A drugs.
She was effectively subject to controlling and coercive behaviour by her partner who isolated her from her family and introduced her to drugs, he said.
She admitted child neglect when she appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court on October 29.
The case was adjourned until Tuesday for a probation report when she received an 18 month community order with 15 rehabilitation days.
She was fined £86 with a £114 surcharge and £85 costs.