Woman guilty of child cruelty in Oxfordshire after rodent torment

The jury heard the children were beaten with belts and suffered a "living hell", the court heard

A woman who abused children, letting "rat-like creatures" crawl over them and locking them up, has been found guilty of 13 counts of child cruelty.

Elsie Wheddon, 71, also allowed her late husband, Stephen, to sexually abuse two children and used one victim's head as a mop to clean up urine, Oxford Crown Court was told.

The jury heard the children suffered a "living hell".

Wheddon, from Warwickshire, will be sentenced at a later date.

Prosecutor Matthew Walsh said the children suffered an "unforgettable ordeal" at the hands of Wheddon and her husband in Oxfordshire in the mid-1970s.

He was charged with offences but took his own life on the day of his first planned court appearance, the prosecutor added.

'Burnt with a lighter'

"Rat-like creatures would be put on them [the children] and allowed to crawl on them and bite them," he continued.

The children were also hit or beaten with belts and locked in a bedroom, a cupboard or an attic, the court heard.

One child was burned with a cigarette lighter, Mr Walsh told the jury.

Wheddon also allowed her husband to sexually abuse the children on several occasions.

Mr Walsh said social workers were involved at the time and their lack of intervention "given what they knew... remains a mystery".

The allegations were formally presented to the police in 2019 when one victim felt they were in the "right headspace", the court heard.

Adjourning sentencing, the judge, Mr Recorder Stuart Trimmer, said a "substantial custodial sentence" was "almost inevitable".

Remanding Wheddon in custody, he told her: "I have observed you over the course of the trial and... you are not well.

"The only safe place for you to be kept is in custody."