Page 8 | How could this have happened?! Trigger warning - child / animal neglect

ljs22 · 2022-11-13T19:12:02+00:00

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?!

PissedOffAmericanWoman · 14/11/2022 00:18

Midnightsbecomemyafternoons · 13/11/2022 23:28

Lost two small children?

Show quote history

yes the article states they had a six year old pass away from starvation a few years ago and then a 1 and a half year old was murdered by the mothers girlfriend of I read correctly. Horrific.

NewBootsAndRanty · 14/11/2022 00:22

PissedOffAmericanWoman · 14/11/2022 00:18

yes the article states they had a six year old pass away from starvation a few years ago and then a 1 and a half year old was murdered by the mothers girlfriend of I read correctly. Horrific.

Show quote history

"Arthur Labinjo-Hughes died in June 2020, aged six, after months of neglect at the hands of father Thomas Hughes and stepmother Emma Tustin, while 16-month-old Star Hobson was murdered by her mother’s girlfriend in Sep 2020."

You've misread. Arthur and Star were two different horrific cases in the UK, nothing to do with the family this thread is about @PissedOffAmericanWoman

PissedOffAmericanWoman · 14/11/2022 00:23

Loungingstevens · 13/11/2022 23:48

I’m so confused as to how each thread about this turns into an argument about benefits.

I have not seen a single person say that no one should ever receive that amount of money if they needed it for children with disabilities. People have been shocked that a family have been able to get that amount. And I must agree, I was shocked. My aunt had a stroke and was left needing lots of care and had to stop work etc. The process she had to go through to get tiny sums was torturous. I didn’t think getting that amount of money was even possible. People are allowed to be shocked by that.

and people are surprised that you can receive those amounts with no checks being made. That seems to also cause offense.

But in all frankness, who gives shit about any politicised arguments about benefits??!

This case is so disturbing. The fact this went on for so long, and no one intervened points to such a failure in our system and society.

how did these children attend school or not attend school and not cause enough alarm so as to activate involvement? Our borough has stopped doing home visits when your child starts school. I really think they should be maintained . And if people decide to homeschool then proper checks need to be made.
Her facebook feed shows she has friends. How did people see her children - take the one who needed 14 teeth removed - and not be concerned about neglect.

where were the neighbours, who must have seen stuff? The teachers? People at her dance school?
her youngest child was little - so she would of had a health visitor then/attended doctors & hospitals. How did no one spot the level of the deprivation her kids were living in?

and how does the paltry sentence reflect the magnitude of the crimes involved that will impact generations?

People are often surprisingly quite cowardly and uncomfortable to confrontation. My parents were quite abusive and there were a number of times I was screamed at and literally slapped so hard that my neck hurt from it right in front of our neighbours and while they were stunned they didn’t think to call the police or CPS. The ones that did well they would do their investigation and then take us back home when they couldn’t find enough evidence. And then our pissed off parents would just take their anger out on us by further torturing us. So I don’t know who the bad guy is. The ones who did call CPS or the ones who didn’t. CPS has such a wonderful way of making everything worse somehow. 😒

Georgeandzippyzoo · 14/11/2022 00:33

Wheatandchaff · 13/11/2022 19:57

My concern is that lots of this happened over lockdown. I had a young child during lockdown and the HVs switched to things like video calls. Sometimes they didn’t even ask to see the children, just a quick chat with mum. How can abuse or domestic violence or mental health struggles be picked up or discussed if you aren’t seeing the full picture? Not blaming HVs at all, they went by the guidance, but things must have been missed during lockdown, it was inevitable.

From what I read this appears to have been going on for longer than lockdown.

MollieMarie · 14/11/2022 00:50

Saltywalruss · 13/11/2022 23:52

Why weren't adequate "follow up inspections" done to the referrals made while the children were at school? If there are concerns regarding abuse or neglect of a child registered at school SS don't just "cancel" the referrals at the point of de- registration. Safeguarding and education are two separate things.

You don't need permission to de- register a child unless they are at a special school.

Show quote history

Yes, social services are also to blame, I'm not taking any blame off SS here. I'm simply making the point that home education regulations are too lax and also a big part of the blame.

You're not understanding what I'm saying here. I know you don't need permission to de-register a child - I think you should. I also know safeguarding and education are two separate authorities. The point I was making in my post is that a family who has already been flagged with SS for neglect/abuse SHOULDN'T be allowed to de-register a child with no suitable checks or inspections - it's unbelievable that home education is so unrestricted that this is allowed to happen.

If the children had proper (or any) follow-up inspections from the local authority after being de-registered then the level of neglect and abuse that this case reached would never have happened. What exactly is there to disagree with here?

sue20 · 14/11/2022 01:00

Meagainalready · 13/11/2022 19:21

Regardless of any benefits discussions how did she only get a suspended sentence and a 5 year animal ban?
if the entire situation was down to him then he only got 18 weeks in jail. That seems insanely light for the damage and neglect of those kids and dogs? You get more then that for fraud.

Yes this was my reaction such light sentencing . The everlasting trauma those kids have gone through. I don’t think the money is relevant as if poverty would explain this behaviour. But were there no neighbours or external agencies anywhere ? How could this be missed?

bluetongue · 14/11/2022 01:43

Some people need a bit of help in life but there’s others that should never have animals, let alone children. I don’t know what the answer is.

MrsLargeEmbodied · 14/11/2022 07:50

because no one has that much power to intevene
luckily there were animals that caused the intervention in the end.
although i do wonder how long the dc will be kept away

Saltywalruss · 14/11/2022 07:53

What exactly is there to disagree with here?

The fact that home education virtually always gets the blame in cases like this and people say that the abuse was possible because the children were "hidden".. They weren't. The fact is that it's the parents that are to blame, school/SS/ Health were also involved in the children 'lives. They had friends and neighbours.

MrsLargeEmbodied · 14/11/2022 07:54

oh i have just seen they have been jailed for 6 years,
i also misunderstood and thought it was a suspended sentance.

bless the dc and hope they receive so much care and support.

forlornlorna1 · 14/11/2022 08:00

This case triggered me in so many ways. And that's because I lived in squalor like this for a time as a child. Lots of referrals to ss by police, school and neighbours that were never acted upon (I've seen my ss files). This was in the 70's and it sickens me that this kind of thing can still happen today!. I hope those children and dogs are doing ok.

Valeriekat · 14/11/2022 08:08

TomTraubertsBlues · 13/11/2022 19:21

Wealthy people abuse and neglect children too.

There are complete and utter arseholes in every strata of society.

There are rather strong social pressures on wealthy parents to have their children well turned out though.

MrsLargeEmbodied · 14/11/2022 08:16

if you have 5 children you are entitled to X amount of benefits, including housing benefits, and and council tax benefits, presumably the children are disabled in some way, entitled to further funding.
but the amount is irrelevant to this case and i wish had not been drawn attention to
parents obviously had probmes that money could not cure

Thepeopleversuswork · 14/11/2022 08:20

@PissedOffAmericanWoman

People are often surprisingly quite cowardly and uncomfortable to confrontation.

Yes indeed. The thing that's freaked me out about this case is her Facebook page. It makes me feel dirty to admit it but I've looked at it and the most disturbing thing about it is how "normal" it is. Naff as fuck and self-pitying with loads of those awful "how can people be so unkind" posts which don't lead anywhere... but very very normal. Could be the FB page of anyone you know.

And all the responses by all the posters to every screed of self-pitying shite goes along the lines of "You're so strong hunni, look after yourself".

Who knows how many of these people actually knew what was going on? Probably most of them didn't. But its pretty chilling to see the way people use social media as self-justification/self publicity and the willingness other people have to accept this at near face value.

MrsLargeEmbodied · 14/11/2022 08:21

But its pretty chilling to see the way people use social media as self-justification/self publicity and the willingness other people have to accept this at near face value.
absolutely

MrsLargeEmbodied · 14/11/2022 08:22

i did read on a facebook group that she didnt mean for the dogs to have puppies

MrsLargeEmbodied · 14/11/2022 08:22

the professionals involved must be so relieved that the DC are now being looked after

Original poster

ljs22 · 14/11/2022 08:27

Thepeopleversuswork · 14/11/2022 08:20

@PissedOffAmericanWoman

People are often surprisingly quite cowardly and uncomfortable to confrontation.

Yes indeed. The thing that's freaked me out about this case is her Facebook page. It makes me feel dirty to admit it but I've looked at it and the most disturbing thing about it is how "normal" it is. Naff as fuck and self-pitying with loads of those awful "how can people be so unkind" posts which don't lead anywhere... but very very normal. Could be the FB page of anyone you know.

And all the responses by all the posters to every screed of self-pitying shite goes along the lines of "You're so strong hunni, look after yourself".

Who knows how many of these people actually knew what was going on? Probably most of them didn't. But its pretty chilling to see the way people use social media as self-justification/self publicity and the willingness other people have to accept this at near face value.

This is very true.

Also the day after the police were called for that domestic incident that sparked off the entire investigation and the removal of the children, she posted a selfie of her and two of her little girls saying "it's all about my me and my kids💖" or similar. To me it looks so normal - I wouldn't bat an eyelid at this on my own FB feed! She was really hiding behind that screen of normality so well wasn't she. Chilling.

OP posts:

Problemorno · 14/11/2022 08:28

I'm also shocked by how normal her FB is. There's pictures of her with the house in the background and it looks fine. Some of her statuses also indicate she's still in contact with some of her children?

Thepeopleversuswork · 14/11/2022 08:32

@ljs22

Yep. I’m always suspicious of people who post stuff like: “It’s all about me and my kids” on FB anyway. If you really do prioritise your children above every no mark abusive arsehole you shouldn’t need Facebook to make this point.

Original poster

ljs22 · 14/11/2022 08:35

MrsLargeEmbodied · 14/11/2022 08:16

if you have 5 children you are entitled to X amount of benefits, including housing benefits, and and council tax benefits, presumably the children are disabled in some way, entitled to further funding.
but the amount is irrelevant to this case and i wish had not been drawn attention to
parents obviously had probmes that money could not cure

It was the judge in the case who drew attention to it - he was rightly astounded that anyone could have this amount of monthly income and still fail to provide even the basics for their children.

I know that there are many other factors including emotional and psychological as to why this occurred. But you'd think that with that amount of cash each month she would as an absolute bare minimum clothe and feed her children, even if she wasn't able / willing to provide for them emotionally? One of the children was found by officers dressed in just a dirty nappy sleeping next to a deceased animal. Could some of that 7k not have bought fresh nappies at least???

I don't know... I'm asking unanswerable questions and I'm aware of that. And people who are abusive or neglectful towards their children will do so regardless of their financial circumstances, I get that. But I just cannot fathom any of it when there is that amount of money to make a difference to those children's lives. Where was it all going?!

OP posts:

MrsLargeEmbodied · 14/11/2022 08:37

36 dogs in a 3 bedroom house
just madness

Original poster

ljs22 · 14/11/2022 08:38

Problemorno · 14/11/2022 08:28

I'm also shocked by how normal her FB is. There's pictures of her with the house in the background and it looks fine. Some of her statuses also indicate she's still in contact with some of her children?

The pictures that look fine of her house are as far as I can work out, after the incident in June 2021 when the animals were presumably removed by the RSPCA and the investigation by SS was presumably kicked off. I'm wondering whether she was told she needed to massively clean up her act or she risked losing the kids? Therefore she cleaned etc and posted "look at my lovely flowers" type posts showing her apparently clean kitchen, to demonstrate to the world that she was now a fit mother? I don't know. It's hard to tell. But ultimately whatever she did wasn't enough and the kids were rightly removed. I hope they are safe and happy now 😥

OP posts:

MrsLargeEmbodied · 14/11/2022 08:40

absolutely
my heart breaks for those children

Thepeopleversuswork · 14/11/2022 08:51

@ljs22

I'm wondering whether she was told she needed to massively clean up her act or she risked losing the kids? Therefore she cleaned etc and posted "look at my lovely flowers" type posts showing her apparently clean kitchen, to demonstrate to the world that she was now a fit mother?

Yes I think this is exactly what she did. It's also noticeable that there are no pictures of the animals anywhere on her social media. Making me suspect the dogs were his thing rather than hers. Not that it's in any way an excuse for her allowing things to deteriorate to the point they did. But I get the impression that he was a thoroughly abusive piece of shit who probably targeted her because she was vulnerable and in receipt of benefits and she was more or less coping with her life until he came along.