Gardaí found a 3-year-old boy shivering in a cabin while his mother used heroin, the Cork court said

Gardaí found a three-year-old boy shivering with cold in a cabin at the back of an abandoned house in Cork city, while his mother and partner were visibly involved in taking heroin.

Judge Colm Roberts said it said a lot that the mother and her partner had been allocated money for accommodation in Cork, but were keeping it to take trips to Dublin and buy more heroin.

Garda Alison O’Flynn had been searching for the boy and the boy’s sister after relatives of the children’s mother notified her that they had not seen the children in months and were very concerned for their well-being.

Garda Judith Notley testified in Cork District Court that she found the three-year-old boy with his mother and the mother’s partner in a cabin at the back of an abandoned house on November 24, 2017. The cabin was surrounded by piles of garbage and construction debris. There was no electricity, heat, or running water in the cabin.

“I initially observed (child’s name). I was shaking.

I was very cold. No shoes, no socks on your feet. He was wearing a very light sweater. His pants were very dirty.

He was in serious and immediate danger. His guardians refused to take proper care of him. I placed him in the rear of the patrol car due to my concerns and my observations. He was very aggressive and very distraught. He was three at the time, ”Garda Notley said.

He said the cabin was unsafe and unsanitary and there was water gushing out of open wires. Judge Roberts said: “Clearly, the place was unsafe, unsanitary and an immediate risk to the child.”

Defense attorney Joseph Cuddigan said the reason the young woman pleaded not guilty to the child neglect charge was that she had repeatedly asked the state to take the boy away, but it didn’t happen until the day Garda Notley found him. in November 2017.

Judge Roberts asked, “Was the child on the at-risk register?” Garda Alison O’Flynn responded: “The social worker was not concerned about the safety of the children at the time.” Judge Roberts said: “It wouldn’t surprise me at all. Depending on where you are in the country, active heroin use may or may not be considered a child care problem. I would have my own opinion on that. ”

Garda O’Flynn told Inspector Denis Lynch, who prosecuted the case today, that the boy’s mother was an active drug user at the time. Sheets of tinfoil and needles were found around the hut.

Garda O’Flynn said that the defendant’s daughter was also the daughter of his partner, but that he was not the father of the boy who was with them in the cabin three years ago. Garda O’Flynn said that the father of the defendant’s partner was willing to care for the girl but not the boy, as the boy was not his son’s child or blood relative.

Defendant questions Garda’s testimony

The defendant, the children’s mother, said that both children were now in care and that she had access to them once a week, that she was off drugs, that she is about to enter residential treatment and that there are plans for her to she is reunited with her children after their residential treatment.

By denying child neglect on the date in question, November 25, 2017, the defendant challenged aspects of the evidence. She said that her son was not in dirty clothes and said: “He urinated when he saw the gardaí.” He said they had only been in the cabin one night.

Judge Roberts found the facts proven. He commended the gardaí’s professionalism in making the necessary arrangements for the children to be cared for properly.

The defendant said: “I want to thank the guards for looking after them. I was trying to take care of them. If I had thought that the guards could take care of them, I would have brought them to the guards myself. “

Once the facts were verified, the judge postponed the case for two months. The parties cannot be identified under the legal restrictions imposed by the Children’s Law.