By Staff Reporter

Last updated 16:08, Tuesday, 07 October 2008

A HEROIN addict who kept her toddler daughter in squalid conditions with needles hidden in cereal boxes has been warned she could be jailed.

Social services took the two-year-old into care after police discovered the Carlisle home where she was living in filthy conditions – smelling of urine and dirt, with dirty clothes strewn all over it, no food in the cupboards or lightbulbs fitted.

Her mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to child neglect when she appeared before city magistrates yesterday.

Pam Ward, prosecuting, said police visited the home – on an unconnected matter – in April and became concerned about its state, considering a young child was living there.

When a detective from a specialist protection unit went to the property, in the Sandsfield Park area of the city, they found it to be filthy.

Mrs Ward said: “There were no clean clothes for the baby. The officer found evidence of drug use.”

The next day, another officer found a broken cot, urine-stained clothes, a bath – filled with dirty clothes – that appeared not to have been used for some time and piles of needles throughout the house, including cereal boxes full of them.

“The child was found in a travel cot. It was small and had no bedding or pillows,” Mrs Ward added.

When interviewed by police, the woman said she had been suffering from depression and other health problems.

She said things had “started getting out of control” in March or April because of a £70-a-week heroin habit, but that she had recently stopped injecting the drug and was now taking methadone as part of a recovery programme.

The mother claimed food storage and cooking had taken place at a friend’s house and that the child had been sleeping in her travel cot – not in the broken one. Her washing machine was broken and she had got behind with laundry.

The court heard the woman feared her child would be taken if she contacted social services for help.

Claire Kirkpatrick, defending, said despite her mother’s problems, there had been little effect on the child.

Although she was pale and withdrawn, the girl was found to be polite, had no problems with speech and had eaten a varied diet.

The solicitor said it was clear there had been little cleaning in the flat, that her client accepted what she had done and was now trying to get her life back on-track – responding well to a drug treatment programme.

She added: “There is no doubt that she loved her (daughter) very much. Yes, the bath was dirty and the kitchen unclean, but no food was being prepared there.”

Magistrates adjourned the case until November 3 for pre-sentence reporst, but warned that all options remained open, including sending the woman to prison