Worthing couple avoid jail over child cruelty in filthy flat that 'smelt like dead body'

A couple from Worthing have avoided jail after being found guilty of child cruelty.

A man aged 28 and a woman, 26, were found to be living in squalid conditions in a flat in Littlehampton Road, with two children, aged one and five.

Police were called to the property on 25 March last year, after neighbours reported a bad smell and that they thought 'there was a dead body inside.'

When police arrived, they found the flat was full of rubbish, rotting food on kitchen surfaces, bags of human excrement and excrement on the walls, and many black bin bags of rubbish.

The two children were immediately taken to safety and are now receiving the care and support they need.

The couple were each given a two-year sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 300 hours community punishment and 30 days rehabilitation work.

Detective Constable Lindsey Van-Buiten from the West Sussex Safeguarding Investigations Unit said: "Attending officers described the conditions as the worst they had seen in their police career, and described the overwhelming smell and tens of thousands of flies inside the flat.

"Local people who called the police even thought there must be a dead body there."

In sentencing the pair, Judge Christine Laing said: "The first thing you should have done was get help from parents or friends, but you did not’.

She also said that the defendants should "stop being selfish and prioritise children above your own needs".

The court heard that both defendants suffered from mental health issues.

The two children are now said to be both healthy and doing well.