A dad sent to prison after five children under 12 were found to be living in "squalor" in his vile, smelly home previously spoke of his dedication to changing the lives of young people.
Lee Carnell, 32, and his ex-girlfriend Sarah Lamb, 33, both admitted to a string of child cruelty offences which involved five children, four girls and a boy after authorities exposed a house of horrors in a 2019 raid when the alarm was raised.
They were stunned to find human excrement smeared on walls next to toothbrushes, dirty nappies everywhere, a foul smell and and a plague of flies.
In degrading scenes of squalor, authorities also found mouldy food scattered around the chaotic property, glass on the floor, and only four beds for seven people.
The selfish parents smoked cannabis in front of the kids after spending £40 a week on weed, the court heard.
But speaking to HullLive months before the harrowing find, Carnell gushed about he had changed his life after sleeping rough as a kid.
He told how he grew up in care from the age of seven and by the time he was 17 he was in and out of jail but, after several years on the streets battling drug addiction, he said his life changed when he met his partner, Lamb.
He previously gushed about how she had "changed his life" and encouraged him to sign up for Mixed Martial Arts training. He said he couldn't stay away from the gym.
He said he felt inspired to help young people who had similar struggles to him, saying: “I want to tell youngsters that it doesn’t matter what’s in front of you.
"It matters what you can put forward and in place because you’ve got to keep going and moving forward.
“Younger people only need to ask for help and I want to prove that if you do you will get it. All you have to do is ask. Believe in yourself because if you don’t you will never know what you want.”
Carnell's wicked actions could not be any further from his gushing words.
His and Lamb's crimes included assaulting a girl and banning a boy from using the bathroom at night, forcing him to urinate in his room.
The eldest girl, not named, had nearly been punched in the face by Carnell, a mixed martial arts fighter, but the blow had missed and hit a wall, creating a hole.
The teeth of one of the girls were "grossly decayed" - and were in a "dismal" state.
Police said the couple's sustained neglect left the children's physical and mental health severely affected.
There had missed numerous medical appointments, their eyes had not been tested and they were not up to date with vaccinations.
They had poor school records and were up to 18 months or two years behind where they should be in their progress.
Carnell, who pleaded guilty at a very late stage, was jailed for two years. His ex-girlfriend Lamb, of Wexford Avenue, Hull, was jailed for 18 months.
Richard Thompson, prosecuting, said that the case "involved multiple incidents of serious neglect."
He said: "It is neglect over years, not weeks. It's neglect of their emotional needs.
"For these children, moving on is going to take many years in terms of the physical harm they have suffered and, more importantly, the emotional harm they have suffered.
"These are still children with very serious problems that they are going to live with for many years."
Judge Peter Kelson QC told them in court: "The pair of you were responsible for bringing up these five children and your neglect of them was such that they suffered badly.
"All five children were 18 months behind in their development. The prosecution contend that this is serious neglect.
"It's plainly a case of the utmost gravity. In so many ways, these children have been damaged and damaged badly.
"It's an assault without a beating in many ways. It's assault by neglect. Appropriate punishment can only be achieved by immediate custody.
"This is a case requiring a deterrent sentence. It's a case where parenting has fallen so far below the acceptable standard."
