How could this have happened?! Trigger warning - child / animal neglect

[ljs22]

I don't usually post links to articles - please delete if not allowed.

This made me so angry and upset. How and why can this happen??

This couple claimed 7k per month in benefits yet seriously neglected 7 children and 36 dogs. This is disgraceful. One child had to have all their teeth removed under general anaesthetic as they were so decayed. Another child discouraged from attending school and made to look after the others. A child found covered in animal faeces next to a deceased dog. Utterly heartbreaking and absolutely infuriating at the same time.

I don't know what I'm posting for, I'm just upset and angry. Why did this happen? They can't exactly claim poverty on 7k per month, so why were these children not provided for?? Are they just selfish / evil people?!

The judge specifically mentioned the amount they received in benefits, so it could be deemed as relevant. These were not people who were doing their best but ended up neglecting their children and pets because they couldn’t afford the basics they needed. How does a household with 5 children deemed in need of the highest level of disability benefits fall through the cracks like this? It is absolutely terrifying. Judge said

Whatever was going on in their relationship, they should have been looking after those children. How do you have 35 dogs, £7,000 in benefits, how is this allowed to happen?'

Don't think the money has anything to do with it. They did it because they had no attachment to the children or the animals and they were cruel people. There's no excuse ... even if they were living in poverty it still wouldn't excuse this. That's absolutely tragic for those children and animals.

If you get given mega wedge it's not unreasonable for someone
to occasionally check you are using said wedge for its intended purpose. That's pretty common with most public sector money which is spent on other things.

Because unfortunately if people have low standards/poor mental health/bad upbringing with trauma or abuse/neglect resulting in them repeating the same mistakes again, then money won't necessarily make them change who they are or stop that.

lady
Having been through the system myself, and being on support groups for children with special needs, that is absolutely unheard of. What is more common is children and families who really need the support and are constantly being turned down, and they have to fight for years to get any benefits. This is why I am so skeptical of this case. It just doesnt add up.

"Mega wedge" on benefits would be DLA/PIP, which already is checked to death when you apply.
There is no "intended purpose" for DLA/PIP. No one checks what you are spending it on and rightly so!

And agree....absolutely pathetic punishment for subjecting those poor children to such a horrible life....its awful to think that they could still be there if it wasn't for the police incident

I'm quite happy to 'bash' their benefits and it's not 'thinly veiled'.

I’d assume a massive chunk of that was going to a landlord for rent, and possibly not even going through their hands at all given the chaotic way they were living. There’s no way you’d get to that sort of monthly income otherwise.

@ChickenBurgers they got 6 years for thr child neglect. The 18 weeks posters keep mentioning is for the animal neglect. Both sentences are pathetic really given the harm caused.

Yes. Exactly this, this is why I mentioned the amount they received.

They were making monthly £1.6k mortgage payments, which I presume means they weren't renting..

I know. If it hadn't been for the police being called to that domestic incident, those poor kids would potentially still be living in that squalor. 😥

I’ve not read it either, but today witnessed absolutely feckless behaviour ( Usual suspects, extremely aggressive ) who were allowing dogs to chase cattle.
I swear there is a type of rough person that just don’t care about animals or children-

Yes one of the articles referred to them breeding their dogs during lockdown.

I got dla for two of my kids before diagnosis. It's quite normal. They was however under paediatrics for suspected xyz which was stated and submitted for my claim. They had Portage, they was on speech therapy radar ( there no actual therapy to get).

You don't just say "I think he's got ASD, I can feel it in my wster" you have a shit load of formal letters from people with medical degrees. You can not fool a paediatrician. They are not stupid or lazy or fobbed off.

Most people with disabled kids don't claim DLA. Your normal well past a year of thinking you'd qualify too. You don't and can't get it without some compelling evidence.

I can't believe people on here seem more concerned about 'don't mention the benefits' rather than the abuse! As a taxpayer, ie contributor to their benefits, I feel I have a right to want to see them locked up for much longer than a pathetic 6 years. Once they're out, probably in three or so years, they'll be expecting me to help keep them again, hopefully their poor children will be somewhere safe and they won't have as much of my money to squander.
The post asks 'are they drug addicts' as though that lifestyle choice would excuse their neglect!

This thread has been made an unreadable mess by @gottachangeforthisone withdrawing all her posts. No idea what was said, or what people are responding to. People should not be allowed to withdraw posts to this extent.

@ljs22 I agree, the couple are a disgrace to humanity. Those poor children And I feel sorry for the pets too. The parents are vile articles. Should lock them up and throw away the key!

What??

www.theargus.co.uk/news/23106172.child-found-covered-faeces-asleep-next-dead-dog/

This article includes info that the others do not - schools in the area apparently had "extensive concerns" about the children.

Which begs the question even more - how and why were these children so badly failed?? Where was the social services referral on the back of these "extensive concerns"?!!

I’m sure social services will learn lessons and this will never happen again, cough Baby P, cough cough Victoria Climbié, cough Star Hobson, Logan Mwangi.

Social workers are not fit for purpose and they never learn, but I’m sure they all gave great pensions.

gottachangeforthisone was giving the impression that she was involved in the case... probably saying too much.

@PurpleButterflyWings

That poster claimed to be involved with the case and said we could ask them questions, then withdrew all their posts.

I saw this on the other thread. Bloody awful.

Don’t have Facebook but how odd if the house was fine mid 2021. How do you accumulate 35 dogs in a year. It’s mad,

@LemonSwan

2021 was when the police were called to the address iirc. So it definitely wasn't "fine". I think she's just carefully edited her social media photos.