An evil mum and dad who let five children aged under 12 live in squalor in a foul-smelling home have been sent to prison. Lee Carnell, 32, and his ex-girlfriend, Sarah Lamb, 33, of Hull, admitted a series of child cruelty offences involving five children - four girls and a boy.
Investigators found a disgusting scene at the family home. Mouldy food, only four beds for seven people and a “vile” smell, were all discovered at the home. Human waste was smeared on walls close to where toothbrushes were kept.
A court heard how the parents openly smoked cannabis in front of the children, a girl had been assaulted and a boy was banned from using the toilet at night so had to urinate in his room. The mum gave birth to another child during the investigations - her sixth - however it is expected that he will likely to be removed from her indefinitely, the court was told, reports Hull Live.
Lamb was the mother of all of the children and Carnell was the father of the youngest three.
Richard Thompson, prosecuting, said that police were alerted in July 2019 after concerns were raised about the children and they were taken into protective care and foster care. “It involved multiple incidents of serious neglect,” said Mr Thompson.
“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.”
The home where they lived was in a poor state and cannabis was in reach of the children. “Both defendants smoked weed in the house and the garden,” said Mr Thompson.
There was mouldy food, glass on the floor, only four beds for seven people, “dirty nappies were everywhere” and there was a “vile smell”. There was human excrement on a wall next to toothbrushes and “lots of flies”.
The eldest girl had nearly been punched in the face by Carnell, a mixed martial arts fighter, but the blow had missed and hit a wall, causing a hole in it. The boy used to urinate in his room because he was scared of Carnell.
The teeth of one of the girl’s were “grossly decayed” and were in a “dismal” state. All the children’s teeth had been neglected and needed work to rectify it. There had been numerous missed medical appointments for them, 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.
The eldest girl was a “scared girl” who felt anger at what had happened to her. During one incident, Lamb put her hand over her mouth and she had pulled her hair.
Another girl had a limited vocabulary, struggled to put words together and would “gorge” herself eating. “Her reading and writing skills were very poor,” said Mr Thompson. She had a perforated ear drum from infections that had not been treated.
A third girl could not read, write or spell, while the boy got flustered easily and had some behaviour issues as a result of the neglect he had suffered. “He has made progress,” said Mr Thompson. “He does recognise that his behaviour is wrong.”
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.
“He admitted the property was not a good or safe place for children,” said Mr Thompson. “He said that the house being in such a state was not his fault.” Carnell admitted swearing in front of the children but denied punching the eldest girl, although he admitted causing a hole in the wall. Lamb denied responsibility for the children’s health issues but admitted smoking cannabis.
Carnell had convictions for dishonesty, possessing drugs, assaulting police, criminal damage, depositing waste and theft. Many of the offences were when he was a youth. Lamb had no previous convictions but had four cautions for assault.
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.
Lamb now had a baby son after becoming pregnant again when she believed that she was unable to have any more children. She did not have any contact with the other five children.
“The defendant has made great progress and great strides in her life,” said Miss Kioko-Gilligan. “She is working with social services and is on the right path to becoming a decent, good parent.” Lamb was a low risk of re-offending.
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. “You will have served your prison sentence long before your children have recovered from your harm,” said Judge Kelson.
No reporting restrictions were made on this case at Hull Crown Court.
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