Boy, 3, found wandering streets alone led cops to his squalid house where five kids lived among dog mess and flies
FIVE kids were discovered living in a filthy house covered in dog mess after one of the boys wandered out into the street alone and was found by cops, a court heard.
Police made the grim find after two PCSOs saw a three-year-old in the street and took him back to his squalid home, according to Wales Online.
When they arrived at the Swansea home, officers were disgusted to find it filled with dirty nappies and crawling with flies, a court heard.
The mum of the kids pleaded guilty to child cruelty and was sentenced her to 14 months in prison suspended for 24 months.
Swansea Crown Court was told that the kids would regularly turn up for school hungry and unwashed, occasionally with head lice.
Teachers were even forced to give the kids hand-me-down clothes from their own children to wear after they were sent to school in scruffy and ill-fitting outfits.
Prosecutor Robin Rouch said dog poo was found on the floors and beds of the dirty home.
He told the court that the PCSOs noticed a strong smell in the air.
Judge Peter Heywood said the "squalid" home was not fit for human habitation, especially not for young kids.
The five children have been taken off their mum and are understood to be "doing well" in their new home environments.
Social services had been working with the mum to try support her before police got involved last year.
Defence lawyer Carina Hughes said the woman had been struggling to cope as a single mother with mental health issues.
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She told the court that on occasions "matters got on top of her".
Ms Hughes said: "Deep down she is a mother who loves her children dearly."
The mum will also have to complete a rehabilitation course and work with the Women’s Pathfinder initiative.
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