The 33-year-old woman became obsessed with Small World – an online game – that she failed to feed her dogs and care for her children.
The children were forced to eat cold baked beans from a can with their fingers because she could not be bothered to heat them up or find a spoon.
Her German shepherd and Lurcher dog lay rotting in the dining room for two months as she played Small World on the internet almost non-stop. When police were called to her home they found rubbish strewn all over the floor in all rooms, mouldy food and a swarm of flies. They also found the bodies of two pet dogs – rotting on the floor.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was charged three counts of child cruelty and two of animal neglect.
Her lawyer said:
‘She retreated into a completely different environment. She obviously became addicted to Small World’
Apparently, the woman’s life had spiralled out of control after her husband died suddenly from a heart attack.
She had received a Facebook invitation form a friend to play Small World and had gotten hooked to it. The game featuring characters such a wizards, dwarves, orcs and giants is played like a traditional board game but online.
The court heard the woman became so addicted to the game she stopped feeding her dogs and neglected her children, aged nine, 10 and 13, for six months.
The alarm was raised when a worried neighbour peered through the letterbox and saw the house was in an appalling condition. Police were called and officers gagged as they entered the home from the dreadful stench of ‘decay and filth.’ They then saw huge amounts of rubbish strewn all over the floor in all rooms, with mouldy food covered in swarms of flies. Police also discovered the bodies of the dogs.
Her neglected three children have all been taken into care. While she has admitted to child cruelty and animal neglect, she hopes to be reunited with them in the near future.
(source)
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