Britain's cruellest parents (Heartbreaking story warning)

The Sun (U.K.) ^ | November 24, 2004 | ALASTAIR TAYLOR

[Stoat]

Britain's cruellest parents

Jailed ... mum Sarah Whittaker
 

By ALASTAIR TAYLOR

 

 

A CRUEL couple who lived it up while their children were slowly starving to death in “Third World” squalor were jailed for seven years yesterday.

David Askew and Sarah Whittaker kept their own bedroom and lounge clean and had a big surround-sound TV connected to cable, two DVD players, a stereo and a PlayStation.

But while they enjoyed their gadgets, ate well and sank wine and beer, their five skeletal children lay neglected and malnourished in bedrooms smeared with human and dog dirt.

When they were finally found, one 13-month-old boy looked like a concentration camp victim and was within hours of death. He was passing live housefly maggots into his nappy.

 

Jailed ... dad David Askew
 

 

And a consultant paediatrician who treated him said it was the worst case of malnutrition he had seen outside the developing world.

The tot’s twin brother — weighing only 40 per cent of a normal child of his age — was seriously ill when he was discovered.

An emaciated three-year-old boy was found locked in his room, huddled in a corner on a bed of rags and wearing soiled underpants.

Sisters aged four and eight were in a similar state and sleeping on urine-soaked mattresses.

 

Comfortable living ... pair's lounge
 

 

Police called to the family’s terraced house in Sheffield had to prevent themselves being sick. One shocked cop said later: “It is something you would imagine in Ethiopia, not in Sheffield.”

The city’s crown court heard the eight-year-old girl was often left to act as “mum” for the others while the parents, both 24, went boozing.

It was she who finally ended the kids’ misery when she told her mother she feared one of the twins was DEAD — and had checked to see if he had a heartbeat.

Whittaker called an ambulance and paramedics stumbled into a scene from hell. Police, the NSPCC and social services — who knew nothing of the kids’ plight — were called in.

Cops found a food cupboard in the kitchen containing just a tin of mushy peas, baked beans and corned beef.

 

Squalid ... soiled bedroom of kids
neglected by Whittaker and Askew
 

 

The fridge held two cartons of milk and the freezer contained only a few sprouts and three fishcakes. There was some powdered baby milk in the house.

Prosecutor Andrew Hatton said the lounge was a complete contrast to the kids’ rooms and was equipped for “adult leisure”.

He added: “There were very few toys but there were seven empty lager cans and an almost empty bottle of wine on the floor.”

Relatives who babysat for the couple told Whittaker to do something about the children. But she never did.

Askew and Whittaker — who wept as she was sent down — each admitted five counts of cruelty.

Recorder Alan Goldsack told them: “These are offences which will rightly shock most people. I recall very few parents who have treated their own children with such callous disregard.

“Most people will not understand how, in the 21st century, children can slip through the net in the way yours did.”

He referred to the couple’s comfortable life and said both were drinking heavily, adding: “Shortage of money does not lie behind this.”

The court heard Askew and Whittaker met when they were 15. Whittaker, who has also had a number of miscarriages and abortions, had her first child at 16 and cared for her for two years.

But after the others were born the pair began to neglect them all.

Quizzed by police about the filthy house, Askew replied: “It could do with tidying more.” He agreed the twins looked “a little underweight”.

All the kids are now in foster care and thriving. The eldest is said to be bright — and never asks about her parents. One of the twins is part-blind but doctors cannot say if it is a direct result of malnutrition.

[Stoat]

Only seven years?

[DTogo]

Sick. Send them to Fallujah, one way ticket!

[Blood of Tyrants]

I fear that the severe malnutrition has cause permanent brain damage in the children. There is no punishment too bad for those people.

[texas mom of one]

And the English are SO concerned about how the US Military treats terrorists... I hope "The Mirror" reported on this story with the same anger and fury they have bestowed on the US in the past couple of years. Disgusting... and why is it that people like that can have child after child, not wanting them, and there are many around the world that would give up all worldly possessions just to have one child. Sickening. I pray the children will grow up happy from this time on and will have no real memories of this time in their lives. Seven years hardly seems like a fair sentence... how about 7 per offense? That's a little bit more understandable.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Relatives who babysat for the couple

Pardon me, but why aren't we reading about their prison sentences too?

[DeltaZulu]

Whittaker, who has also had a number of miscarriages and abortions, had her first child at 16 and cared for her for two years.

This is why this happened. But will anyone do the research to see if there is a causal link between abortion and other forms of child abuse? I doubt it.

[BlessedBeGod]

Askew and Whittaker — who wept as she was sent down — each admitted five counts of cruelty.

I hope you cry yourself to death.

[Theresawithanh]

Just ick! They should have gotten more than 7 years for this.

I read an article today about a lady from TX who cut off both her child's arms, called 9-1-1 and told them what she'd done, and sat and calmly waited for the police to arrive. The really sad thing about this is she'd threatened her child's life before, and they gave the child back to her.

[blackbart.223]

"I fear that the severe malnutrition has cause permanent brain damage in the children. There is no punishment too bad for those people."

A long trip on a short length rope is called for.

[texas mom of one]

I found another artile about this case w/a few more details.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/11/24/nabuse24.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/11/24/ixportal.html

[coydog]

It would be an appropriate way station on the way to Hell.

[coydog]

I'd like to see them go somewhat souther and hotter myself.

[DTogo]

Leave them in Fallujah with T-shirts in Arabic that says something extremely offensive about Islam and Zarqawi, and has a Union Jack on the back.

[Ptarmigan]

What a bunch of monsters! Why do they even have kids to begin with???????? They need to die a slow and painful death.

[coydog]

I'll go you one better: slather them in BBQ sauce and dump them in Grizzly country.

[drt1]

It would appear that the Brits have the same Child Welfare Standards as are found in the US. I mean, give me a break! After reading the article I see that the authorities had recently inspected and found nothing amiss. Likewise, school authorities either ignored or not concerned about the condition of these children. The "Relatives" suggested that something be done. All of this in the face of the obvious long term abuse of these children. Sounds like something out of Texas!

[Deo volente]

Throw them in a cell, and throw away the cell!

[wizardoz]

Relatives who babysat for the couple told Whittaker to do something about the children. But she never did.

Where I come from, we call these "accomplices."

[Stoat]

Sounds like something out of Texas!

Just curious, why is it that you choose to focus your invective upon Texas, specifically?

[1066AD]

Yeah right troll, remember the case in NYC where the little girl DIED and the "father" is now out of jail and had jobs waiting for him in TV and/or radio ?