Darlington child cruelty couple have jail terms increased

Lorna and Christopher Dennington's cruelty to three children spanned several years

A woman who forced a child to eat their own vomit has had her "wholly unreasonable" prison sentence for child cruelty more than quadrupled.

Lorna Dennington, 47, and her husband Christopher Dennington, 53, both of Darlington, were jailed for 12 months in September at Teesside Crown Court.

Their sentences were referred to the Court of Appeal as "unduly lenient".

Lorna Dennington's term was increased to four years and 10 months, while her husband faces six years in prison.

Kitchen scrubbing pad

In his ruling, Lord Justice William Davis said the cruelty against three children in their care spanned multiple years, with one child abused between 2006 and 2017.

Lorna Dennington, of Bedford Street, had admitted three charges of child cruelty. She repeatedly beat the children, punching one child on the nose and hitting another in the head with a cupboard door, the court was told.

Judges heard that she had dragged a girl out of a bunk bed and down the stairs by her hair and would use a kitchen scrubbing pad on the girl's skin if she thought she had not washed properly.

In his ruling, Lord Justice Davis later described an incident where one of the children, said to be around 15 or 16 at the time, had thrown up after a meal.

"Lorna Dennington made her pick up the vomit from the floor and eat it," he said.

Her husband plundered almost all of one child's £59,000 trust fund, which had been left to him after his father died.

Lord Justice Davis said the boy, now an adult, had wanted to use the money to buy a house.

Christopher Dennington was jailed for the child cruelty offences and one count of fraud.

'No escape'

Both offenders appeared at the hearing via video link on Thursday.

The couple have mental health issues and had experienced trauma, the court was told, with Lorna Dennington previously stating she was overwhelmed by the responsibility of looking after multiple children.

Lord Justice Davis, sitting with Mr Justice Murray and Judge Philip Katz KC, found that the sentencing judge had given the couple too much credit for the guilty pleas at the start of their trial.

"There was no proper basis to depart from the guideline," he said, adding they were "wholly unreasonable" sentences.

The judge noted that the cruelty inflicted on the children often took place in front of others.

"This fact led each victim to a sense of hopelessness - each saw no escape from the dreadful home life to which they were exposed," Lord Justice Davis said.

He concluded there had been a "gross error" with the original sentences.