Abandoned on the pavement, in the rain. This was the terrible fate reserved for the two children of a divorced couple, where both parents categorically refused to take care of them.
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Left to their own devices
Their parents, aged 30 and 25, were supposed to share custody of the two children, but the reality was much more complex. The lawyer of the two children states:
"The mother has other things to do, she works, her home doesn’t provide good conditions for her children, and she doesn’t want to be held back by them. The father doesn’t want anything to do with them either, and to make sure of this, he said to child welfare authorities that he might lose it at any time, that he is impulsive and that he may hit them. So they play tennis with them, they send the children away and sometimes they come back like a boomerang."
Cruel abandonment
One morning, the mother decided to take the children to their father’s house, but he wasn’t at home. She left them on his doorstep, on the pavement. The children were in pyjamas, in the rain, left to themselves.
The mother got back in her car and started to drive off, and didn’t even stop when the elder of the two boys started running after the car.
Picked up by a neighbour, the children were then placed in foster care. When contacted by the police, the mother replied that she "doesn’t want any more to do with them". The father also refused to take them back.
The parents were tried and received a suspended sentence of 8 months in prison. They will also have to pay a sum to each of their children: £2700 for the father, £1800 for the mother. Their parents have visiting rights of one hour per month.
