Couple forced their children to take food scraps out of the garbage and eat soap

A couple who forced their children to starve, fed them soap, locked them in closets and doused them with boiling water have been found guilty of multiple counts of child abuse in the town of Fishburn, County Durham, in England.

Cheryl Pickles, 35, and Andrew Hadwin, 39, denied the children so much access to food that they walked more than four miles to rummage through the garbage bins of a supermarket to look for food.

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On one occasion they were found at 4 in the morning walking alone to the supermarket looking for leftover food.

The abuse came to light in 2018 when one of the children revealed what was happening to a trusted adult and an investigation was launched by Durham police. They were charged with multiple counts of child neglect and sexual activity with a child, and one count of perversion of the course of justice.

The couple claimed the allegations were untrue and forged letters they claimed had been written by the children and in which they denied the allegations.

Hadwin and Pickles they were found guilty of protracted child abuse activities by a jury at Teesside Crown Court after a seven-week trial. During the trial, jurors learned of the abuse committed by the couple, which included hanging a terrified child over a highway bridge.

They face sentencing in April and have been told they expect long prison terms.

During the investigation, which spanned four years and involved more than 150 witnesses, detectives found that Hadwin and Pickles repeatedly abused the children.

Detective Constable Kat Pudney, from the Durham Police Protection Unit, said of this case: “This was an extremely complex and harrowing investigation for all involved, the likes of which I had never encountered during my time as a police officer. Hadwin and Pickles subjected several vulnerable children to multiple forms of abuse, robbing them of their childhood. and no doubt leaving them with psychological wounds from which they may never really recover.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.