Child abuse horror: parents and uncles jailed for decades of cruelty

CHILD ABUSE HORROR: PARENTS AND UNCLES JAILED FOR DECADES OF CRUELTY

A woman who was a prostitute and involved in making some of her children watch her have sex with clients has been sentenced to five years and eight months in prison.

She pleaded guilty to charges of cruelty, gross indecency, and neglect.

The four children suffered abuse, neglect, and cruelty that dates back to the late 1970s, inflicted by their parents, two uncles, and two other men.

The children's father admitted to 17 counts of wilful neglect and cruelty by wilful assault and was sentenced to four years in jail.

To protect the children's privacy, none of the family members can be identified.

During the sentencing, the judge Mr.

Justice Horner stated that neither parent had shown responsibility for their actions, with the mother described as 'a heartless tormentor interested primarily in her own pleasures and enjoyment,' though he recognized she was not a predatory paedophile.

The mother was characterized by a probation officer as 'cold and callous,' and the father was found guilty of leaving his children with an alcohol-dependent woman unable to care for them, with savage beatings inflicted for trivial reasons.

Additional offenders, including uncles and Thomas Fitzpatrick, convicted of indecent assault, gross indecency, and common assault, received sentences ranging from 12 months to 2 years and 9 months in jail.