{UAH} Elderly couple lock 3 children in basement for 3 decades of grotesque abuse and cruelty
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Elderly couple lock 3 children in basement for 3 decades of grotesque abuse and cruelty
An elderly couple locked five children up in a basement for three decades of 'abuse, neglect and cruelty'.
Valerie Stannard, 73, held a boy's hands over a stove and stuffed lit paper down a boy's pyjamas while her husband Roy, 74, punched a youngster full force 'as if he was punching a man.'
The children lived most of their lives in the basement at the Stannards' home in Stoke Newington, north London.
They were often whipped with a bamboo cane or a belt belt and lived most of their lives locked up in the dingy basement.
The youngest victim was just a toddler when he was tied to his highchair and locked in a cupboard with the couple's dogs because he cried, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.
The Stannards were convicted of 18 out of 22 charges in March relating to five youngsters involving sexual abuse and child cruelty between 1969 and 1985.
Valerie was jailed for nine years and Roy for 12.
The victims gave heartbreaking evidence during the month-long trial, describing the catalogue of abuse they had suffered.
Valerie Stannard would draw a line on their milk bottles to mark how much had been drunk and she would beat them if she caught them taking more.
Roy Stannard stripped one of the girls naked for his sexual pleasure on six occasions. He also sent them out to steal things for him to sell on his market stall.
One victim told the court: 'We were not living, it was just an existence.'
Describing another incident of cruelty, she said: 'He had a coat hanger and put it in his jumper and hung him up on the door making him choke.'
One of the girls was made to do household chores and treated 'like a skivvy'.
Social services visited their home, but the Stannards were adept at covering their abuse, buying clothes from a shop for the visit and returning them later.
One of the girls described her brother having soap put down his throat.
'He nearly choked and she had to hit him on the back to save him.'
Police finally launched an investigation into the couple in July 2014.
Roy Stannard initially denied the abuse, claiming it was a ''very different time back then'.
He said in a statement: 'They are all going to stick together and they have got this planned. They are trying to get back at us.'
Robert Dacre, defending Valerie Stannard, called on the judge to consider Mrs Stannard's age and ill health while sentencing.
He said: 'She continues to suffer from asthma and has ongoing heart issues, including hypertension.
'I understand that she has to take 23 tables every day.'
Mrs Stannard has to use an oxygen tank, so Dacre added that prison would be 'very very difficult for her'.
Roy Stannard was convicted of four counts of child cruelty and six of indecent assault.
Valerie Stannard was convicted of eight counts of child cruelty.
The couple, who now live in Barge Lane, Bow, denied all the charges but they failed to convince the jury and were jailed for more than 20 years in total.
Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2017/05/05/elderly-couple-lock-3-children-in-basement-for-3-decades-of-grotesque-abuse-and-cruelty-6618115/#ixzz4gFQ8cZwW
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