Barbaric couple left mother sat in her own faeces for four months in Leeds house of horror

The emergency services had been called over concerns about the “skeletal” 58-year-old woman, who was found slumped in a chair in the fly and cockroach-infested property, smeared with faeces around her mouth and hands. She was even stuck to the chair and had to be prised off.

A witness later said the victim’s daughter was heard to say to her mother: “I wish you would die”. But sickeningly, she then said she also wanted the money from the carer’s allowance she received.

Natasha Pammant and Liam Leach were both jailed at Leeds Crown Court today having admitted a charge of cruelty against a person in their care, along with a second, lesser offence. The couple lived at the property on South Parkway in Seacroft with the woman’s mother, who had numerous physical and mental health issues including asthma and COPD.

Police went to their address on May 4, 2022, after a neighbour raised the alarm saying she had been hearing screams through the walls for “some months”. Those who entered the property said the smell was overpowering and “hit them like a sledgehammer”, prosecutor Catherine Silverton told the court. Those in attendance struggled to breathe due to the stench.

The woman had pressure ulcers on her body, one of which was was “down to the bone”, which could have proved fatal. She asked the paramedics if they had any food as soon as they arrived. The court heard the armchair was soaked through with urine. She was taken to hospital for treatment.

Medical experts confirmed that the the woman’s condition was consistent with not being fed properly or moved for around four months. The house was described as being covered in empty alcohol bottles and cigarette butts with faeces spread around along with rotting food. The couple arrived home a short time after the paramedics and were arrested.

Get the latest on all of the news from across Leeds sent directly to your inbox with our free daily newsletter

Pammant, 24, told police during her interview that she had difficulty coping and conceded that the house was “disgusting”. Leach said Pammant’s mother was “lazy and had given up”.

Mitigating for 26-year-old Leach, Catherine Duffy said he had his own “significant vulnerabilities” and questioned whether a custodial sentence was necessary. She said he now lived on his own.

For Pammant, Kristian Cavanagh said: “This is a defendant who is struggling with her own inadequacy as a consequence of her own poor upbringing. She was bullied at school because of her own lack of cleanliness.”

The judge, Recorder Alex Menary said: “This can only be categorised as a long period of serious neglect.”

Referring to the report of the case he added: “I’m afraid it makes for distressing reading. The photos of the victim as she was found are very distressing indeed. She had been kept in the worst conditions for months.

“It suggests four months of little nourishment and absolutely no care during those four months. She was in an appalling state. Both of you are young, and in my judgement, not well equipped. You both lack maturity, the ability to take responsibility or seek assistance. This was prolonged cruelty.”

Pammant, of Cartmell Drive, Halton and Leach, of South Farm Road, Gipton, were jailed for 30 months each.