2006; JONATHAN BUSH JAILED FOR CHILD NEGLECT
Three young boys were subjected to “Dickensian” conditions by their parents which left them starving, filthy and living in “sheer hell”, Norwich Crown Court has heard.Jonathan Bush and Nicola Hillier were jailed for nine months after admitting three offences of causing unnecessary suffering over a long period to the three children all under five.
The appalling conditions at the family home were discovered by a health worker.
The children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were found to be malnourished and wearing ill-fitting filthy clothes.
They were also found wearing dirty nappies which were so badly soiled they hung around their knees, and the court heard that health visitors were often forced to change them.
Charles Myatt, prosecuting, said that one of the boys was so hungry he took a piece of frozen meat from the freezer and tried to eat it, another was seen picking a cracker out of an ashtray full of cigarette butts.
He said the children would play in the garden which was full of dog faeces and that they had access to a shed with dangerous tools in it.
There was also broken glass inside the house and one of the children had suffered cuts.
The court heard that their shoes were too large meaning the children would often run about barefoot and that on one occasion two of the children were left in a playroom naked with no heating.
The health worker found that another child had chipped his collarbone after being left on a sofa and there was also an unguarded open fire in the living room and one of the boys had burns to his arm.
Mr Myatt said one boy was witnessed with a liquid Paracetamol bottle in his hand.
Another was seen walking around holding a kitchen knife.
The children were unable to talk properly and instead shouted and screamed to communicate and get what they wanted.
Often they were seen wandering around whimpering and crying.
Yet the court heard that amidst the filth, the security officer's uniform which Bush wore for work, was found hanging freshly washed and ironed on the back of the door.
The couple, both 24, of Rye Avenue, Norwich, said it was not a deliberate attempt to harm the children, but an inability to cope due to financial pressures.
John Morgans, defending Hillier, said she was suffering from depression at the time and was remorseful about what had happened.
Jailing Bush and Hillier, who wept as she was led away, Judge Peter Jacobs, said: “These children were really suffering and at times their lives were sheer hell.
“The home was not a safe or healthy environment.
They were not properly fed, dressed or educated and not kept clean and were exposed frequently to real danger; they were hungry and there was illness, dirt and neglect.
Conditions have been described as 'Dickensian'”.
They were seen semi naked in a semi dark room.” He added: “I accept your inadequacies but this does not explain the fact you observed their suffering over a long period of time yet you were both capable of holding down responsible jobs.
The message must go out that people who neglect children and cause them suffering will go to prison.”
