The parents of a 'filthy and freezing' five-year-old girl allowed her to run around the edge of a Cornish mine partially clothed while they got drunk and stoned.
Paranormal investigators raised the alarm after spotting the girl with a blanket wrapped around her in Cornwall last summer, reports Cornwall Live.
Both defendants, who are from Essex and cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to cruelty to a person under 16 at Truro Crown Court. The dad also admitted to possession of cannabis.
Prosecuting the case, Hollie Gilbery, said police received a 999 call from paranormal investigators at Wheal Frances Mine near Four Lanes.
The group told officers the young girl looked cold and underdressed, and her parents were 'clearly drunk and under the influence of something'. They also witnessed her mum nearly fall into an open mine.
Later, the group went looking for the girl and found her parents drinking, and smoking cannabis nearby, while the girl was still running around the mine.
Police were called and when they arrived the girl’s mother shouted that she’d been raped.
Officers said that the girl told them her “daddy didn’t push mummy” and “they fight a lot”.
The court heard that the girl looked filthy, and had not been bathed in 'some time'.
There were further reports over the following days of concerns of the welfare for the girl after she was seen running around undressed outside toilets in Boscastle and her parents had a huge row in Helston Sainsbury’s.
It was confirmed that the child is now safe and in the care of someone else.
Sentencing, Judge Robert Linford said he wasn’t interested in the defendant’s attempts to blame each other.
He said: “This is not a case of deliberate cruel behaviour but a case of criminal neglect.
“You are both the parents of this little girl and with this honour comes heavy responsibilities. You neglected these and put your desires to get drunk and stoned above the needs of the little girl.
“You should both be ashamed. She was filthy and freezing. I’m pleased to hear she’s in the care of someone else being looked after properly.”
Both defendants were given a two-year community order, with the mother given a 25-day rehabilitation activity requirement and the father a 'thinking skills programme requirement'.
