Parents in Rhyl who kept children in squalor are jailed

Last updated at 12:24 GMT, Tuesday, 8 December 2009

A couple who kept their son and daughter of three and five in "squalor almost beyond imagination" have been given jail terms at Mold Crown Court.

Matthew and Joanne Bryer, 37 and 41, kept dogs, cats and chickens at the home in Rhyl, Denbighshire, which was strewn with dead animals and excrement.

Bryer was jailed for 12 months for neglect, while his wife's 10-month sentence was suspended for two years.

Judge Merfyn Hughes QC said they were both guilty of "gross" neglect.

He said police "found conditions of such squalor that they were almost beyond imagination".

He added: "This is not a case of untidiness or a low level of cleanliness.

"It was a situation and gross and serious neglect, such that it is difficult to understand how anyone could live there, least of all expose two very young children aged five and three to such a high risk of infection and disease."

He added: "Quite apart from the lack of basic furniture and the number of animals both alive and dead, the police found both animal and human excrement smeared on the walls and doors.

"Not surprisingly, the children were infected with lice and they had been scratching themselves as a result.

"That did not happen in a matter of days."

Foster care

The couple admitted two child neglect charges each at an earlier hearing.

The children are now with foster carers.

Matthew Bryer was sentenced to 16 months - 12 months concurrently for neglect on each child - and four months for breaching a previous suspended sentence for assaulting his wife.

The court heard he had also been convicted of child neglect last October.

His wife was sentenced to nine months in prison for neglecting the two children, and an additional month for breaching a community order after biting a police officer on Christmas Day.

Her sentence was suspended for two years.

Both now face prosecution alleging animal suffering.

Judge Hughes was told that the children were on the "at risk" register, but social services could often not gain access to the home.

Mr Bryer was also under the supervision of probation officers for his previous crime.

The judge said: "While that does not extend to the supervision of the children, it is regrettable that in addition to the attendances that social services had, or ought to have had, that this state of affairs should continue as it did."

Unbearable

The court previously heard the smell and noise of the animals had been making neighbours' lives unbearable.

Police called at the property in August after a neighbour complained a live chicken had been thrown to the dogs.

Officers found squalor that left them unwilling to let the children stay in the house.

They found animal excrement in virtually every room, including the children's bedroom.

A fish tank contained a dead fish, a cage held a dead bird, rabbit hutches were in the hall with litter strewn across the uncarpeted floors, and there was dirt on many of the walls.

The bedrooms had limited bedding - which was dirty - and excrement was smeared on a wall and a door upstairs.

One officer thought he was going to be sick.

The little girl's hair was matted and full of lice and nits which were running down her T-shirt.

The child also had a number of flea bites.

The couple, who now live in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, have supervised contact with the children.

A spokesman for Denbighshire council said: "It is a fine balance between keeping children with their families and protecting children.

"Denbighshire County Council takes its child protection responsibilities very seriously and we will be carefully considering the judge's comments and looking to see whether there are any lessons that can be learned."