Magistrates in Llandudno heard the children were given the all-clear by doctors and social workers and were not affected by their experience, but chairman Paul Kinsey said they had been put at “high risk”.
Last month, the 39-year-old, who cannot be named, pleaded guilty to three charges of neglecting the children, who were all under 10 years of age, at their home in Prestatyn between December 1 last year and January 3.
Prosecutor James Neary told the court that the police were alerted to the situation by the stepbrother of the children’s father, who had arranged for the woman to be taken to hospital by ambulance after finding her ill in bed.
The magistrates were shown footage taken on a police body-cam as they moved from room to room in almost total darkness as there were no lights in the premises.
The officers said the place was “virtually uninhabitable”, with a terrible smell caused by a combination of rotten food, faeces and cigarette smoke.
There was broken glass and drugs paraphernalia on the floor, dried blood splattered on the ceiling, and the bedclothes on a cot were soiled.
The officers could not proceed through the rooms without treading on bags of rubbish and other items.
“The children would have had to navigate their way through all of that in the dark,” said Mr Neary.
The mother spent six weeks in hospital recovering from septicaemia and, when interviewed, said she had become ill two weeks before Christmas.
Her condition deteriorated until she was unable to get out of bed.
She told police her partner would not believe she was that unwell and would pull the bedclothes off her, but she had to rely on him to care for the children.
When shown photographs of the living conditions, she became upset and accepted that she should have gone to hospital sooner and ensured that the children were cared for.
Chris Dawson, defending, said: “She was not well enough to look after herself, let alone the children.”
He said she had been prosecuted on the basis of what might have happened, not what had actually happened, as the children, who were taken in by their grandmother, had not been adversely affected.
Since her discharge from hospital, he said, she had been free of drugs.
The chairman said the charges were so serious that only a custodial penalty was justified.
The Bench imposed a 16-week jail sentence suspended for 12 months.
As part of a 12-month community order, the defendant must undergo drug testing. She was also ordered to pay costs of £120 and an £80 surcharge.
Mr Dawson said he understood that her partner, who faces identical charges, was seriously ill in hospital, but the Bench issued a warrant for his arrest.
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/prestatyn-mum-whose-children-lived-11789601
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