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WAG, 26, spared jail for leaving three young children under 7 so that she could go clubbing


Yak_Louis

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A mother abandoned her three children in 'vile' conditions so she could go clubbing with friends.

Although Laura Palmer, 26, spent a lot of money on hair extensions, false nails, expensive make-up, stylish clothes and drinks, her children lived in squalor, a court heard.

Concerned neighbours called police after the children, aged three, four and seven, were spotted outside running around naked and covered in faeces by a busy road in Hull, East Yorkshire.

When officers attended the house, they found a drunken Palmer hiding in the garden sheds - still dressed in her clubbing gear.

Social worker Jacqueline Feeney told Hull Crown Court of the appalling condition of the house in Jendale, Sutton, east Hull.

The home was covered in excrement, rubbish and decaying food. Mattresses had no covers on them and the bath was full of rubbish.

Feeney said: 'The home conditions were in a poor state and it was uninhabitable for children.'

Palmer, who dressed up for her court appearance in a bright pink dress with matching pink shoes, pleaded guilty to three counts of child cruelty and neglect between December 31, 2010, to June 14 last year.

Prosecutor Nick Adlington told the court: 'Concerned members of the public called the police be-cause the children were running around near fast-moving traffic.

'The police took the children back to their home address. It was in a terrible state, covered in excrement and dirt and the children could access dangerous areas of the house, including the kitchen.

'The defendant was, in due course, found in the garden shed intoxicated, having been out the night before and was still dressed for a night out.

'The officers described the house as being in a vile state.

'Food debris was all over the living room, the sofa was filthy, there was a broken tumble dryer in the kitchen, there was no bedding on some of the beds and there was rubbish in the bath.

'There was excrement everywhere and a general air of neglect.'

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The shed where Laura Palmer hid when she realised the police had come for a visit

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The court heard last Friday how Palmer left the children on June 13 last year at 11.30pm after putting them to bed to go out drinking.

She claimed she had fallen asleep on her friend's sofa and returned home the following morning to find the police there.

In the meantime, her children had climbed out of a window and were spotted running around naked in Newtondale and Marsdale, Sutton.

At 9.30am, police received numerous calls from members of the public.

The children led officers back to their home, where they climbed in through a window.

Palmer had apparently spotted the police van outside her house when she returned home and had hidden in the shed.

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Police also had to enter the house through a window because Palmer had lost her door keys.

Palmer, who has two previous cautions for shoplifting, said she was 'devastated' by her actions.

But she claimed she and the children had not been living at that address and were expecting to be rehoused the next day.

Palmer told the police: 'I have never done it before. I'm devastated. There is no excuse.

'I just lost the plot and gave up on the house. Everything was a total tip. I was expecting to be rehoused.'

Ms Feeney had visited the family a month earlier and described the house as 'smelly and untidy' and noted the carpet was 'sticky'.

However, the social worker said conditions then were not as bad as they noted on June 14.

Recorder Paul Miller told unemployed Palmer: 'You left them in a property, that had been reduced to a disgusting state during your occupancy, while you went out for a night of entertainment.

'Your children were found in the street, anything could have happened to them but happily they came to no physical or psychological harm.

'It is clear not all of your problems are your own making. You have suffered a depressive period in the past, but it is no excuse to effectively give up responsibility for your children when you are the sole carer.

'I give you credit for your plea of guilty but these offences do cross the custody threshold. A constructive programme has been put forward by the probation service and the public interest will be better served by that so nothing like this will ever happen again.'

Recorder Miller added: 'In the future put your children first - not having a good time.'

Palmer was given a four-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months and a 12-month supervision order.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2123886/Mother-26-abandoned-naked-children-house-squalor--clubbing.html

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