A dad who has been jailed after letting his kids live in a house of squalor boasted of wanting to help young people change their lives. Lee Carnell was in and out of jail by the time he was 17, having grown up in care.
But his life of battling drug addiction on the streets changed when he met his partner, Sarah Lamb. In 2019 he told Hull Live about how he felt inspired to help young people after Lamb encouraged him to sign up for Mixed Martial Arts training.
He said he couldn't stay away from the gym and wanted to help others with a similar story to his. He said: “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."
But his own life could not have been any further from the positive words he was promoting. Together with Lamb, Carnell let five children "live" in degrading scenes of "squalor" in their foul-smelling, chaotic home, reports HullLive.
Mouldy food was discovered, there were only four beds for seven people, there was a "vile" smell, human excrement was smeared on walls near toothbrushes and the children's welfare had been badly damaged. The selfish and hopelessly inadequate parents smoked cannabis in front of them, a girl had been assaulted and a boy was banned from using the toilet at night so had to urinate in his room.
Carnell, 32, and Lamb, 33, of Hull, admitted a series of child cruelty offences involving five children - four girls and a boy all aged under 12. Lamb was the mother of all of them and Carnell was the father of the youngest three.
Hull Crown Court heard how police were alerted in July 2019 - a month before Carnell spoke to Hull Live - after concerns were raised about the children and they were taken into protective care and foster care. Carnell later told police that the couple did not have a vacuum cleaner and the reason the house smelled was because of a water leak problem. The bottom of the fridge had melted and that was why there was slime. He spent £40 a week on cannabis.
Richard Butters, mitigating, said: "The facts are awful, particularly when the victims are children. To mitigate the facts would be irresponsible and I don't intend to do so."
Carnell realised that he had lost his children. He had left his girlfriend and had decided to change his ways. He had been drug-free for three years, had been living in Coventry and had started an odd-job business.
"This defendant really has tried to move on from this dreadful phase of his life," said Mr Butters. The home in Hull was "awful" and, on many occasions, he had been doing a reasonable job with the children. "He was doing his best," said Mr Butters. "He fell short. He made some very bad errors and mistakes. These two have certainly failed the children, that's without question. They have failed these children but, over the years, they have also tried to do some good. He tried to do his best. These children were very badly let down.
"I am not making any excuses about that. The parents tried to do some reasonable things with the children within their capabilities. The impact on the children, he finds very hard to live with."
Cathy Kioko-Gilligan, representing Lamb, said that the defendant had not had any contact with Carnell recently and this had a significant positive impact on her life and she had managed to stabilise her mental health. She was now drug-free after a previous cannabis addiction.
Judge Peter Kelson QC said: "There was cannabis located in areas within reach of the children, little food in the cupboards, mould visible on food, no carpeting, with glass on the floor, only four beds available for seven people, with no bedding and dirty nappies everywhere. It's a description of squalor."
The neglect was said to have happened over a period of two-and-a-half years to four years, although the defence claimed it was for only two-and-a-half years. Carnell had not allowed the boy to use the toilet at night, meaning the youngster was afraid to do so and urinated on the floor if he needed to at night.
Lamb had put a hand over the mouth of the eldest girl during one incident and had pulled her hair. The three eldest children had an extremely poor attendance record at school and there were numerous missed medical appointments.
"The pair of you were responsible for bringing up these five children and your neglect of them was such that they suffered badly," said Judge Kelson.
"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."
Carnell, who pleaded guilty at a very late stage, was jailed for two years. Lamb, of Wexford Avenue, Hull, was jailed for 18 months. She had been laughing and joking before going into court.
