Denaby Children Terribly Neglected – Prison For Father: Mother Remanded

February 1925

Mexborough & Swinton Times, 7th February 1925

Denaby Children Terribly Neglected.
Prison For Father: Mother Remanded

At Doncaster on Tuesday the magistrates considered a bad case of child neglect from Denaby. The defendants were Harry and Elizabeth Cooper, of 3, Blyth street, Denaby, but the woman was stated by Dr. J. J. Huey, of Mexborough, to be unfit to plead and was remanded to Leeds prison for a week for examination as to her mental condition.

Mr. W. L. Crawford, of Doncaster, conducted the prosecution for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

Leonard Bradley, local inspector of the N.S.P.C.C, said he visited the home of the defendants on 7th February, following a complaint. He found one child, Ivy, aged 3 years, 9 months, neglected and verminous, and suffering from bronchitis, but fairly well nourished. She was dressed in rags, and was without boots or stockings. A baby of 11 months was in worse condition. She was verminous, emaciated, and suffering from chronic bronchitis.

In his opinion her life was in-danger if she did not at once receive medical attention. He saw no indications of the children having received proper attention, though within five minutes walk there was a clinic. The mother herself was in rags. The bedroom in which the parents and the two children slept was terribly dirty, the bed and mattress being broken and filthy.

He called in Dr. Huey, and the children were ordered to the Workhouse infirmary at Doncaster, where they had since improved splendidly. The man had been working on the drainage work near the Welfare Institure at Denaby. It was a case of drink and pawning.

Dr. Huey corroborated the inspector’s account of the condition of the house, and the children, and gave his opinion that the female defendant was mentally deficient and unable to plead.

Cooper, invited to give evidence in his defence, said he had nothing to say. A doctor had been attending the younger child for four months, and he (defendant) had done all that the doctor had told him.

The Chairman (Mr. G. B. C. Cooke Yarborough) said it was a very bad case indeed, and the male defendant would go to prison for six months. They were not sure about the mental condition of the woman, and she would be remanded for a week to Leeds prison for observation.