Those who complain about the supposed inflexibility of the child cruelty criminal law in England should
be aware of the case reported by the BBC concerning a couple whose home was over-filled
with junk that they had hoarded, resulting in their children having to eat on
the stairs. We are told that they have been successfully prosecuted for child
cruelty.
I am not clear that the use of the criminal law in these
circumstances is appropriate. I can’t help feeling that parents who engage in
obsessional behaviour should be helped, not punished. But perhaps I am not in
tune with the Zeitgeist.
However this case clearly shows, contrary to what has been
recently argued, that the current criminal law on child cruelty can be used against parents who neglect, rather than those who
abuse; and that it can be used where the impact on the child appears to be
emotional, not physical.
Those proposing sweeping reforms
should take note.
