Child neglect mother evades jail sentence

A CHADDERTON woman charged with neglecting her three children has avoided prison.

The 27 year old admitted two counts of neglecting a child and was given an eight-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months, and ordered to pay £165 in court costs.

Subhanur Chowdhury, prosecuting, told Oldham magistrates yesterday that the eldest child (11) called the police when he heard his mother arguing with another woman.

The children are now in temporary foster care until a decision is made by the family court in Manchester.

Mr Chowdhury said: “Officers arrived and were confronted by the defendant, who was completely intoxicated. She was unable to talk or even see properly.

“Officers found three young children. Upstairs in one bedroom two of the children were cuddling each other and crying. The other still had on his school uniform.

“The defendant was unable to have a conversation because of the level of intoxication, and she became abusive to the officers. The officers searched the house and found it in what they described as “a disgusting state”.

Ian Owens, defending, agreed his client’s inebriated state had not helped her situation.

But he added: “The police have tried to make more of this.”

He said the officers described seeing the children in their bedroom looking and feeling scared but that anyone would have looked and felt the same way if two burly policemen burst into their bedroom at midnight.

He also disputed the description of the flat, saying everything was in its rightful place. The police, he claimed, had focused on a disused fridge, on which there were signs of mould.

He added: “She recognises she has let herself down. The biggest consequence is that those children are temporarily fostered away from her. That’s what is causing the most grief.”