A MOTHER who “disregarded her sacred duty” and neglected her five children “to the point of cruelty” has been sentenced to four years in prison with the last 2½ years suspended.
The children were underfed, badly clothed and even at 11 years old were not toilet-trained. The court heard that the three boys and two girls, who were aged four to 11 years old when they were taken into care, were left with severe and long-term psychological difficulties.
The court heard the family had moved from place to place around Ireland, under two different aliases. The parents never claimed social welfare and the children rarely attended school so the authorities were not aware of the neglect until they arrived at a Garda station in September 2007.
All the children were behind academically although one of the foster parents described one of the boys as being very bright.
The children’s mother (34), who cannot be named to protect the children’s identities, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 10 counts of neglecting the children between May 2005 and September 2007.
Her husband (44) has already been convicted of neglect and assault, and the rape of one girl, by a Central Criminal Court jury.
Judge Martin Nolan noted that their mother had been preyed upon by their father who he described as “a very violent man” but added “she was the mother of these children and had an obligation to take care of them and to protect them. She failed miserably in this task.”
He described it as “a particularly sad case”. The five children had been “neglected to the point of cruelty over a substantial period of time”. The evidence “demonstrated that fact beyond a reasonable doubt” and “anyone who encountered these children, anyone with a modicum of common sense and insight, would have known this.”
Judge Nolan said the mother was a damaged individual with her own problems but he said there was nothing in the psychologist report to suggest that she could not or did not know where her true responsibilities lay.
“She disregarded her sacred duty and she did not protect or keep safe these children,” Judge Nolan said.
He accepted that the children’s continuing suffering must also be laid at their father’s door but said that as an adult, she had a responsibility to protect them.