Parents who didn't feed children properly are jailed

The youngsters were forced to witness repeated violence between the couple and frequently went to bed without any tea to avoid the warring couple.

Preston Crown Court heard the little girl told her teacher she had not eaten the previous evening as the only food in the house was a lump of cheese - and had begged her school not to make her go home.

Judge Simon Newell said prison was necessary due to the seriousness of the case.

The couple admitted neglecting the two children between September 1 and December 19, 2015, and sat beside each other as a Polish interpreter relayed the proceedings to them.

Prosecuting, Joe Allman said social workers attended their Callon home at around 11am.

He added: “ As they approached the house they could hear shouting and the couple then came to the door with the boy in between them.

“She was slapping and punching the man and shouting at him in Polish and the boy was visibly upset.

“She shut the door on the social workers who then called 999 for the police.”

The parents were arrested. When the authorities looked around the house they found inadequate food.

The first thing they had to eat that day was a sandwich they made themselves while police were there.

The girl told officers she saw her mother smacking and kicking her father, that her parents were always arguing and she couldn’t do her homework.

The little boy said his mum had been trying to push his father down the stairs and spat at him. If they were given tea it was only a sandwich.

Their behaviour was “as though they had been starved”.

It is the second child neglect case to hit the headlines in Lancashire in the same week.

See here for the previous case.