The man, whose name has not been revealed to protect the identity of the children, admitted two counts of wilful neglect when he appeared in the Magistrate’s Court – one in respect of each child. He is now in prison serving a four-month sentence.
Prosecuting, Advocate Sarah Watson told the court that the defendant had gone to the UK in December after the Community Drug and Alcohol Team had withdrawn his medication. He was away for 13 days, leaving the children, one of primary school age and the other a young teenager, to fend for themselves.
He gave them £50 for food before he left.
The youngsters had different understandings as to when their father would return, with one under the belief that he had gone to buy Christmas presents.
After concerns had been raised, other family members visited the property where the defendant lived. They found urine on the floor in the downstairs toilet and black grime in the bowl. It was a similar picture upstairs. There was mouldy food in the kitchen, and a lasagne in the fridge which dated from February. Fly traps on the ceiling were covered in flies and multiple light bulbs were missing. There was no light in the older child’s room. Things were strewn everywhere and there was a pair of rusty garden shears in the hall that were within easy reach of the children.
Advocate Watson said messages the defendant sent to his mother refuted his claim that he had been trying to get back to Guernsey as soon as he could for the children’s sake. On one occasion he had missed his boat home, and in one message he said he might not come back at all.
Family members had mitigated the harm caused to the children by stepping in to help. It had taken them four hours to clean and tidy the house.
Defending, Advocate Sarah Morgan said her client deeply regretted what he had done and the impact it had had on his children. He originally had planned to go for a long weekend.
His wife was absent and the rapid detox he had undergone over three days had caused a physical and mental breakdown, she said. It was the man’s first appearance before the court for more than 10 years.
Deputy Judge Graeme McKerrell said the defendant might not have been before the court in that time but he had committed crimes with his admitted used of illicit substances, and had given little indication of a will to change.
Leaving his children to fend for themselves had been ‘a wicked and selfish act’. He was not before the court because the house was untidy, but for the risk it posed to the children.
He jailed him for four months, to run concurrently, for each offence.