A health care worker who abandoned a 13-year-old boy to live alone in filthy, frigid circumstances for more than four months while sleeping on a dirty mattress and subsisting on bowls of cereal has escaped prison time.
Michelle Williamson, a mother of nine, told a court that she would see the unnamed kid once a week but would not remain.
The home was filthy, with worktops heaped with unwashed dishes and plates that had mould on them, and the youngster had not been given enough food or warmth throughout the very cold winter.
It was discovered that Williamson had been letting the youngster live alone after he was saved.
Williamson, 36, admitted to leaving the youngster to fend for himself in a chilly home, on a dirty mattress on the living room floor, and on bowls of porridge. Williamson admitted to wilfully abandoning the child.
She was informed on Tuesday that the incident had cost her her job and that she was now jobless before Dundee Sheriff Court.
Sheriff John Rafferty gave her 165 hours of unpaid labour to complete and sent her to Scottish Ministers so they could determine if she was qualified to deal with children.
I think this is quite serious, he said. The event lasted from December 2020 through April 27, 2021.
A 13-year-old was left alone for over a week at this period in a dirty, insufficiently heated home where you had to subsist on frozen food and order takeout.
I don’t see how anybody could have allowed this to go on for such a long time.
Following an anonymous tip to Dundee City Council in April of last year, police discovered the young man living alone.
In December 2020, the kid first spent the holiday season living there.
Council social workers apparently expressed no further worries about Williamson or the kids in her care despite the circumstances he was placed in.
Williamson was still working for a private company as a health assistant after her arrest, but she was fired after being found guilty.
The accused and her lover had conversations about moving in together in December 2020, fiscal depute Dev Kapadia said to the court.
‘Two weeks before Christmas, the testing period began. The complainant desired his own space since he thought the home was too crowded.
Alternative plans were put in place for the youngster to spend five nights a week living alone at the Kirkton address.
In the living room was a double mattress. The only warm room was that one. Three bowls of cereal were consumed by [the youngster] each day.
She would arrange for frozen food deliveries or the odd takeout order if [the kid] ran out of food.
To top up the energy metre, “she would send money to [the child’s] bank.” This continued till April 27.
“Youngster protection from the council called the police with a fear that a child was living alone after receiving an anonymous call,” said the caller.
“Police arrived to the residence around 5.40 p.m.” The boy soon answered the door and told them that the accused had left him at home alone while he went to the store.
“The youngster said they would call her, but when they spoke to the police, they learned they were living alone because they “wanted space.”
They said that Williamson would see the youngster once a week but would not remain. Concerns about the house’s condition were raised by the police.
“It was in a sorry condition.” It was filthy and unsanitary, and the worktops were stacked high with mouldy, unwashed dishes and plates.
Just a couple cans and a package of spaghetti made up the meagre supply of sustenance. Laundry was disorganised and had soiled sheets on a double bed in the living room.
‘Police observed that while the metre showed £5, the heater was not on. It was chilly and unpleasant.
Williamson, a resident of Dundee, told police in June 2021 that she worked as a support worker, according to testimony presented at the Dundee Sheriff Court.
Defense attorney Hannah Fairweather stated: “Social work was originally made aware of the incident. They haven’t been involved since it was determined there were no problems.
It is surprising that she was hired as an adult support worker and even more remarkable that she remained to work as a health care assistant, according to Sheriff Rafferty.
Defense attorney David Duncan argued that she made a very serious mistake in judgement. There have been important lessons learnt.