Two parents who neglected their five children for years, leaving them to live in squalor with human excrement smeared on the walls, have been jailed.
Lee Carnell, 32, and his ex-girlfriend Sarah Lamb, 33, admitted a series of child abuse offenses against four girls and a boy.
Lamb was the mother of them all, and Carnell was the father of the three youngest.
Authorities found the children – all under the age of 12 – in the house in Hull, which had no carpets, glass on the floor, dirty diapers everywhere, lots of flies and moldy food. There were only four beds for seven people.
The court heard how one of the girls was assaulted and the boy was banned from using the toilet at night so he had to urinate in his room.
Both defendants smoked weed in front of the children in the house and garden.
Lee Carnell spends £40 a week on cannabis. Credit: MEN Media
Richard Thompson, prosecuting, said: “This is neglect over years, not weeks. This is neglecting their emotional needs.
“For these children, it will take many years to move forward in terms of the physical damage they have suffered and, more importantly, the emotional damage they have suffered.”
He said police were notified in July 2019 after concerns were raised about the children and they were taken into protective and foster care.
He said the oldest girl was nearly hit in the face by Carnell, a mixed martial artist, but the punch missed and hit a wall, causing a hole in it.
One of the girls’ teeth were “severely decayed” and in “terrible” condition. All the children’s teeth were neglected and needed work to correct them.
There were numerous missed medical examinations for them, their eyes were not examined and they were not up to date on vaccinations.
They had poor school records and were up to 18 months or two years behind in their progress where they should be.
The oldest girl was a “scared girl” who felt anger about what had happened to her. During one incident, Lamb put her hand over her mouth and she pulled out her hair.
Sarah Lamb laughed and joked before going to court. Credit: MEN Media
Another girl had a limited vocabulary, struggled to put words together, and “stuffed herself” while eating.
“Her reading and writing skills were very poor,” Mr Thompson said. She had a perforated eardrum from untreated infections.
A third girl could not read, write or spell, while the boy was easily confused and had behavioral problems as a result of the neglect he had suffered.
Carnell, who rose to fame as a cage-fighting rapper, later told police the couple didn’t have a vacuum and the reason the house smelled was a water leak. The bottom of the fridge had melted and that’s why there was slime.
“He admitted the property was not a good or safe place for children,” Mr Thompson said. “He said it was not his fault that the house was in such a state.
Carnell, who spent £40 a week on cannabis, admitted swearing in front of the children but denied hitting the eldest girl, although he admitted causing a hole in the wall.
Lamb denied responsibility for the children’s health problems but admitted to smoking cannabis.
Carnell had convictions for dishonesty, drug possession, assaulting police, criminal damage, littering and theft. Many of the crimes were when he was young.
Lamb has no previous convictions but has four cautions for assault.
The neglect is said to have occurred over a period of two and a half to four years. Credit: MEN Media
Richard Butters, mitigating, said: “The facts are horrific, especially when the victims are children. To mitigate the facts would be irresponsible and I have no intention of doing so.”
Carnell had left his girlfriend and had decided to change his ways. He had been drug free for three years, lived in Coventry and had started a casual business.
“This defendant really tried to move on from this terrible stage of his life,” Mr Butters said.
The Hull home was “terrible” and in many cases he did a reasonable job with the children.
“He was doing his best,” Mr Butters said. “He didn’t make it. He made some very bad mistakes.
“I’m not going to make excuses for it. The parents tried to do some reasonable things with the kids within their means. He finds it very difficult to live with the impact on the kids.”
Kathy Kioko-Gilligan, representing Lamb, said the defendant had not had any contact with Carnell recently and this had had a significant positive impact on her life and she had been able to stabilize her mental health.
She was now drug free after a previous addiction to cannabis.
Lamb now has a son after becoming pregnant again. She had no contact with the other five children.
“The defendant has made great progress and great strides in her life,” Miss Kyoko-Gilligan said.
“She is working with social services and is on the right track to becoming a decent, good parent. Lamb is considered to have a low risk of re-offending.
Judge Peter Kelson QC said: “There was cannabis located in areas accessible to the children, little food in the cupboards, visible mold on the food, no carpets, with glass on the floor, only four beds for seven people, no bedding and dirty nappies everywhere . It is a description of misery.”
The neglect is said to have occurred over a period of two-and-a-half to four years, although the defense argued it was only for two-and-a-half years.
“You two were responsible for the upbringing of these five children and your neglect of them was such that they suffered grievously,” Judge Kelson said.
“All five children were developmentally delayed by 18 months. The prosecution alleges that this is serious neglect.
“This is obviously an extremely serious case. In so many ways these children have been harmed and harmed severely.
“It’s a no-hitter attack in a lot of ways. This is negligent assault. Appropriate punishment can only be achieved by immediate detention.
“This is a case that calls for a deterrent sentence. This is a case where parenting has fallen so far below an acceptable standard.’
Carnell, who pleaded guilty at a very late stage, was sentenced to two years in prison.
Lamb, of Wexford Avenue, Hull, was jailed for 18 months. She was laughing and joking before going to court.
“You will have served your sentence in prison long before your children have recovered from your harm,” Judge Kelson said.
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