Heartbreaking - who would do this to their own child?

There are lots of terrible stories that I read, and to a certain extent and on a very selfish level, I take comfort from the fact that they happen a very long way away. Or that they happen in a war torn country bereft of morals, comfort or care. It's no excuse. I guess it's what one does to survive. You can't deal with all the bad things in this world. But it makes it even more shocking when you read of a story, that has happened not a million miles away, in a country that should’ve been able to stop it, by people who have no right to be alive, let alone have children. How in the world can this have happened in 2012?

 

A ten year old boy, a child, was locked up in what used to be a coal bunker of their semi-detached council house for a year, by his own mother and her partner. In the room, he had a single mattress and a potty. The child was locked in there in the evening while his mum and partner would relax in another room watching TV. He would attend school during the day, and would be locked up at night. They told him it was because of his bad behaviour that he was locked up, and he was often locked up for longer if they caught him stealing food from the fridge (butter or raw meat). Quite unimaginable.

 

Teachers at his school became concerned and contacted the authorities and he was eventually rescued from this hell where he had no toilet and no washing facilities. Police investigating the case remarked that they had never seen such squalor in their life, that there was no air in the room, with the one window that did exist having been sealed. They found a potty filled with urine next to the single mattress and a bowl with stale food in it. They said it was barbaric.

 

The couple are due to be sentenced next month, but for me, prison is too good for these two barbarians. They will receive care in prison that the 10 year old child didn’t receive for a whole year of his life. I normally don't wish ill on anyone, but in this case, I hope these 'parents', get the treatment they deserve in prison.

 

That poor boy.  How could any person, much less his own mother, be so very cruel?