Parents jailed

A MOTHER and stepfather who locked their eight-year-old daughter in her “revolting and squalid” bedroom for 12 hours every night for four weeks were yesterday each jailed for a year.

Charlotte Avenall accidentally hanged herself on September 12 last year at the home of her mother Susan Moody, 24, and 33-year-old stepfather Simon Moody.

The severely disabled youngster, who had the mental age of a three-year-old, had just learnt to tie a knot at school when she wrapped a cord on her bedroom window around her neck.

Her death came after four weeks of neglect when she was locked in her bedroom each night for 12 hours at the family’s house in Moor Street, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.

The couple earlier each pleaded guilty to one count of child cruelty at Nottingham Crown Court.