Kid left alone in filthy house

Warning over sentence

A Blairgowrie woman who was spared jail after leaving a young child home alone in a house in conditions of“utter squalor” was warned that she had to give her unpaid work “greater priority”.

Perth Sheriff Court was told that the youngster was found by police sleeping in a bunk bed, surrounded by conditions of absolute filth.

The mother, who had been drinking and turned up at the house 10 minutes after police arrived, was ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work in July.

But during her first Community Payback Order review last Wednesday, Sheriff Fiona Tait told her: “You are not prioritising this order.”

She reminded the accused that the order had been imposed as a “direct alternative” to a jail sentence.

Sheriff Tait allowed the order to continue meantime but fixed another review for September 21.

During the accused’s trial earlier in the summer, PC Andrew Baron

told how he discovered the door of the property open.

He added: “We found the house in a state of total disarray. Words fail me to describe the squalor - that’s the best word to use.

“There was utter squalor in the house.”

The 44-year-old officer described the hallway of the property as “an absolute mess”, with children’s toys and unmade flatpack furniture strewn around.

There was also rotting food in the kitchen, with a defrosted roast in a leaking plastic bag on the cooker.

“It was rotting. That smell hits the back of your throat, ”he told Sheriff Fiona Tait.

The work surfaces were also covered in dirty dishes, pots and pans, and there was a bin overflowing with garbage.

In addition, there were “piles of clothes waiting to be washed”.

He added: “I couldn’t see anything that was clean. You would have to clear a space on the surface to set anything else down.”

PC Baron then went downstairs where he found a bedroom he presumed would be for a adult.

“Again there was clothing strewn all over the place. The bed didn’t have any linen on it.”

Next he went into the living room which he described as“probably the worst room”.

He added:“There were plates of half-eaten food which had gone mouldy. There was green fungus that grows on the mould.”

There were also half-eaten packets of crisps and at least two, possibly more, milk cartons which were clearly off.

“You could smell the sour milk. I didn’t have to look for any‘ sell by ’date. My nose could tell me.

“The amount of clothes was quite remarkable children’s toys as well.”

Asked by depute fiscal Lisa Marshall if it would have been safe for a young child, the constable replied: “It wouldn’t have been suitable for anyone.”

It was a longish room and he added: “You couldn’t walk from the door to a balcony without standing on something of some description.”

PC Baron then joined colleague PC Michael Grant in an upstairs bedroom where they found a young child sleeping in the bottom of a bunk bed.

The child was the only person in the house although the child’s mother, described as being “under the influence of alcohol”, turned up with a neighbour some 10 minutes later.

“On discovering there was a child alone in the house, I told PC Grant we would have this child removed to a place of custody.”

He then contacted the out-of-hours social work services.

He told depute fiscal Lisa Marshall he had“no hesitation at all”in taking that action.

The constable was giving evidence at the trial of the child’s 34-year-old single mum.

She was convicted after trial of wilfully causing unnecessary suffering to the youngster in the house in Rattray on November 8, 2015.

She was found guilty of failing to provide the youngster with tolerable living accommodation and that the conditions presented a“risk”to the child’s health.

The charge stated that she was under the influence of alcohol at the time.

PC Baron said that the child’s mother arrived at the house with a carrier bag containing three or four bottles of wine, at least two of which had been opened.

He added:“She was slightly tipsy. In fairness to her, she wasn’t heavily under the influence.”

PC Baron later wrote in his notebook how he found the house“in a state of disarray”and how words couldn’t describe the dirt and grime.

He described a scene of “utter deprivation”in the downstairs living room and questioned:“How can any parent live like this, far less any child?”

Giving evidence, the accused, who has now moved to another house in Rattray, agreed that parts of the house were“a mess”.

She had planned to“set about clearing it”that evening but a male friend had turned up and she had opened a bottle of wine instead.

She denied that the conditions presented a hazard to her child whom she described as“bright and intelligent”.

She insisted there was no mouldy or decomposing food in the kitchen and that the ‘meat’was a chicken she had taken out of the freezer that morning.

She also denied there were any half-empty cartons of milk, or a plastic cup with mould, in the living room.

Under crossexamination by the fiscal, the accused said:“I’m not disputing the house was a mess. My whole life was a mess at that time. ”

She also insisted the child had never been exposed to any unnecessary risk.

But Sheriff Tait rejected her evidence and found her guilty of the charge.