Five children suffered horrific conditions as parents sentenced

Five children could face a lifetime of psychological care because of the "extreme neglect" by their parents, a court has heard.

Their father and mother will be banned from any attempt to contact them for 15 years over the significant harm at a home in West Dunbartonshire.

The couple returned to Dumbarton Sheriff Court on August 30 for sentencing, but cannot be named to protect the identities and recovery of the children.

They pleaded guilty in June to persistent neglect of the five youngsters, all under the age of 10.

But despite a sheriff saying both "deserve" to be in jail, they avoided being locked up.

Social workers had been left alarmed by the chronic neglect of the children.

One child was missing 17 teeth. All had head lice. Their home smelled of urine and faeces everywhere. There were no clean clothes, nor bedding.

Police attended the property in November 2017 but the parents weren't charged until December 2022. There was no explanation in court for the time taken to get to court.

When the couple first pleaded guilty, the Crown said neither had previous convictions.

But a report by social workers revealed the father had five previous convictions. One, from 1996, was for physical abuse of a child, noted Sheriff Maxwell Hendry.

The Crown had checked and the information given by police was that he had no convictions.

Defence advocate Sean Templeton KC, representing the father, said the incident had been a "chastisement" where "he went too far with the violence used".

He added: "Neglect is different. He has no children under his care and that is unlikely to change."

The sheriff questioned what punishment he could impose on the father, who has health issues.

Mr Templeton said: "Despite the background here, they have suffered a loss themselves, albeit through their actions. There is an acceptance the children are better off where they are at present."

Sheriff Hendry drew attention to suggestions the mother had instructed a private investigator to find the children.

Defence solicitor Kenny McGowan, representing the woman, said his client had made contact with past foster parents but had no knowledge of their current whereabouts.

He said there had been resistance to the removal of the youngsters originally but there had been no private investigators hired.

"She expresses genuine contrition and remorse," said Mr McGowan.

The sheriff said the court was concerned about the "prolonged period" of what he dubbed "extreme neglect".

"She accepts she has never been a good mother," said the defence agent.

Sheriff Hendry said: "She accepts she deserves to go to jail."

Mr McGowan replied: "She is in no doubt about the position she's in."

The court had previously heard health professionals and social workers had raised issues, such as a lack of clean clothes, repeatedly. One child had up to 13 tooth extractions.

"Bedwetting seems to have been seen to be acceptable," the court was told. At least two children were unable to engage with interviews due to the trauma suffer.

The prosecutor had said: "The children reacted to this new clothing in a manner that took social workers aback down to their level of gratitude, what they considered alarming behaviour indicating wider neglect."

The Crown accepted the couple were not guilty of neglect of an oldest child.

The father admitted to failing to provide five children with adequate and clean clothing, and failing to adequately supervise them and their movements and whereabouts within and outwith the home, all to their harm.

The mother also admitted failing to provide adequate and clean clothing for five children. And she failed to obtain medical and dental treatment when required, and failed to perform basic hygiene routines, adequate or sanitary living accommodation and cooking facilities and fail to provide adequate bedding - all to their harm.

When they were sentenced on Friday, Sheriff Hendry, addressed the father first but stated the comments applied to both.

He said: "This has been one of the most anxious cases that I have dealt with in many a decade."

He said the treatment the children received was the opposite of what any child ought to expect.

"I don't know if you have been told, they are in desperate need of psychological support, and predictions that will remain the case for their entire lives - and that's entirely down to you two," he said.

"There is no doubt at all that the custody threshold has been passed. I'm struggling not to impose a custodial sentence on you."

He told the father that if he were younger or fitter, or if the crime had not been so many years ago, he would be jailed.

The sheriff said the same comments applied to the mother, but possibly to a "greater measure".

Both will be under supervision by social workers - the same department that rescued the children seven years earlier. They will be watched for two years.

Both will be tagged for nine months and under curfew to stay at home between 7pm and 7am.

The mother will also have to do 150 hours of unpaid work in the community within a year.

Both were told if they stepped out of line in any way, there would be no hesitation to send them to prison.

She wiped her eyes during sentencing - the first emotion shown in recent hearings.