Worst case of neglect I ever saw

A woman has received a four-year suspended sentence for what a detective described as the worst case of child neglect he has ever seen in his 13-year career.

Det Garda Paul Carney said he and social workers found the 42-year-old woman’s three children on a urine-soaked mattress in a bedroom in her “filthy” house. He said the children, then aged two, four, and eight, had soiled themselves and appeared lethargic despite it being a summer’s day outside.

The detective found milk powder that had gone off four months previously and no fresh food in the house.