Parents of infant with ‘head-to-toe’ skin infection fined for willful neglect

The parents of an infant girl with “head-to-toe” skin infection were both convicted and fined yesterday for willful neglect of the child.

The parents — both 19 years old — appeared before Cork District Court yesterday. The mother had her first child at 14 and now has four children, the youngest being the one in this case.

The DPP said the case would have been dealt with by a judge and jury if there had been a plea of not guilty. Their solicitor, Dennis Healy, said: “It was more ignorance than neglect.”