YOUNGSTERS ABANDONED IN RODENT INFESTED HOUSE
THREE children were regularly left ‘home alone’ for days on end to fend for themselves without adult supervision.
The youngsters were abandoned in a dirty home infested with rodents over a four-month period in Crossgates.
Aged between seven and eleven years, they were repeatedly left without supervision, adequate food or clean clothing.
The older child had to look after the other two and the youngsters did not tell adults what was happening to avoid causing any trouble.
A 48-year-old woman, Laura Thomson, admitted neglecting and abandoning the three children.
Thomson, now of Fernbank, Powmill, appeared for sentencing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.
She admitted that between 1st October 2022 and 30th January 2023, at the Crossgates, having responsibilities for three children, she wilfully neglected and abandoned them.
She repeatedly abandoned them in her home without supervision, failed to provide adequate living conditions, failed to provide adequate food, requiring one of the children to make food for herself and the others and she also failed to provide adequate and clean clothing.
The court was told the children were aged 7, 9 and 11 at the time.
Depute fiscal Brogan Moffat told the court heard that a boy was at school wearing shoes two sizes too big for him, on one occasion had no pants to wear and the children’s clothes were generally grubby with holes.
Three meetings were organised by their school with Thomson over concerns for the well-being of the youngsters but she did not turn up for any of them.
There was an infestation of mice in the house and the eldest child said she had not told anybody about their situation because she wanted to avoid any “drama”.
The children were interviewed and said they had been regularly left for several days on their own and that this had been going on for months.
A young boy said he was angry because he regularly had no clean clothes for school.
Defence solicitor Chris Sneddon said his client was “otherwise a law-abiding citizen”.
He went on, “She was struggling with her physical and mental health and continues to suffer.”
He said his client had already been punished, adding, “She’s not seen the children for two-and-a-half years, there is the guilt she feels and the court process has been very traumatic for her.
“There’s no necessity for the court to impose a punishment. No rehabilitation is necessary.” He called for her to be admonished.
However, Sheriff William Gilchrist told Thomson, “This is a very serious charge and it’s not inconceivable that a custodial sentence would be the outcome.”
Instead, as it was her first offence, he imposed a community payback order with 150 hours of unpaid work.
