No food in house for eight children

Care staff who called unannounced to inspect the welfare of eight children found no food in the house and barely enough milk for a baby’s bottle, the trial of a mother charged with cruelty and neglect heard today.

The 39-year-old mother, who cannot be named in order to protect the identity of the children, who are now aged between 18 months and 19 years, has pleaded not guilty before Galway Circuit Criminal Court to 44 charges of child cruelty at five locations on dates between September 1, 2006, and May 12, 2011, contrary to section 246 (1) and (2) of the Children Act 2001.

Two taped interviews involving the second eldest daughter, which were recorded by gardaí in August 2011 and April 2013, when she was 12 and almost 14 years of age, were played to the jury yesterday.