Woman spared jail for child neglect at disgusting flat

Kelly Marie Sleith left the youngsters, who were aged under 15, with just £10, some bread and the clothes on their backs when she claimed she was going to visit a friend in England.

The 39-year-old failed to return to the rubbish-ridden home and a fortnight later police officers — who were called out by a neighbour regarding a noise disturbance — discovered the 'gaunt looking' children had been living alone in the disgusting property.

A sentencing hearing was told that the older child struggled to get out from behind the front door of the ground floor, two-bedroom home to meet the constables due to the amount of rubbish.

Procurator fiscal depute Alister Miller said: "There were piles upon piles of rubbish littered all over the floor throughout the home.

"A small single mattress was found in one of the bedrooms with no bedding on it and it was covered in staining. The master bedroom was inaccessible due to an insurmountable amount of rubbish and rotten waste.

The children were living in squalor, with the Port Glasgow flat stacked with piles of rotten rubbish (Image: Crown Office)

"The smell of damp, faeces and food waste was overpowering.

"The bathroom was extremely dirty with human waste and staining.

"The older child had been living off of coffee while the younger child had been drinking tea and eating the occasional sandwich.

"The countless fruit flies made it extremely difficult for officers to remain within the property."

The court heard Sleith 'occasionally' sent takeaway food for the children to eat but there was no working oven or hob in the home, no lightbulbs in any of the rooms, and there was just £2 left in the electricity meter.

The property was said to have been 'extremely unhygienic' with an 'uncountable number of dirty dishes, open cans of food, a large number of out-of-date milk cartons' and there was a 'strong smell of decay'.

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Fiscal depute Mr Miller added: "The children advised police that the only clothes they had were those they were wearing."

The children were removed from the property and taken to Greenock police office for their own safety, where it was noted that they did not have any footwear.

Sleith left the property in August 2020, stating she was going to visit a friend in England and would be back a week later, the court was told previously.

The first offender was arrested south of the border more than a year later, in October 2021.

Sleith's solicitor told the sentencing hearing that his client 'is not someone who is without her issues' and has a 'persistent depressive disorder and borderline personality disorder'.

The lawyer said: "'You wouldn't treat an animal like that' is a phrase that comes to mind.

Kelly Marie Sleith (Image: NQ)

"Reading of the circumstances it is very difficult to imagine.

"She is aware that it is a disgraceful set of circumstances. It should not have happened.

"Instead of taking help from various organisations she seemed to shy away from that, thinking 'I will not be able to cope with the embarrassment'. She was ultimately rudderless and unable to keep her head above the water."

The solicitor suggested that Sleith would benefit from cognitive behavioural therapy to address her issues.

He added: "It is such a serious case that she is aware of the predicament she has put herself in and the disgraceful situation for the children."

Noting the maximum sentence of 12 months imprisonment available to him for the summary complaint matter, Sheriff James Varney said: "I have considered very carefully the narrative and simply listening to it makes for horrendous listening.

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"I can't understand what they went through and you decided to leave them for your own benefit and your own selfish action.

"Thankfully, because of the actions of the police officers, the children are now safe and carefully looked after.

"You do have a history of mental health problems and you have no previous convictions.

"My duty in the circumstances is to consider whether there is an alternative to custody available."

The sheriff stated that there would be a benefit in bringing Sleith under the supervision of the court rather than sending her to jail.

She will be supervised for two years with a court review hearing every three months. A 12-month restriction of liberty order was also imposed, meaning Sleith will be tagged and must remain within her address between 7pm and 7am each night.

She is due to return to court on February 28 for a progress review hearing.