A COUPLE have been sentenced for child cruelty after two small children were found in “filthy, squalid and unhygienic conditions”.
Police were called to a flat in Littlehampton Road, Worthing, after report of flies and a bad smell coming from inside in March last year.
Marc Wearing and Charlotte Bond were found living in squalid conditions with the two children, aged between one and five years old.
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The flat was full of rubbish, rotting food, bags of human excrement, excrement on the walls and many black bin bags of rubbish, according to police.
Detective Constable Lindsey Van-Buiten, from the West Sussex Safeguarding Investigations Unit, said attending officers described the conditions as “the worst they had seen in their police career”.
“They described the overwhelming smell and tens of thousands of flies inside the flat. Local people who called the police even thought there must be a dead body there,” she said.
At Lewes Crown Court, Wearing, 28, and Bond, 26, were each given a two-year sentence, suspended for two years after pleading guilty.
The pair were also ordered to carry out 300 hours community punishment and 30 days rehabilitation work. Wearing was also ordered to pay £450 court costs.
The two children were taken to safety and are receiving care and support. They are both “healthy and doing well”, according to police.
In sentencing the couple, Judge Christine Laing said: "It breaks my heart that two little girls were living there.
“The first thing you should have done was get help from parents or friends, but you did not.”
The judge also said that the defendants should "stop being selfish and prioritise children above your own needs".
The court heard that both defendants suffered from mental health issues.
A West Sussex County Council spokeswoman said: “We are unable to comment on individual cases. Whenever we are alerted about situations where children may be at risk of harm we take whatever action is required, alongside our partners including police, to ensure that children are protected and receive the care and support that they need.”
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