The vulnerable youngster and his two-year-old sister were kept in a filthy, stinking and fly-infested house, with him eventually losing sight in his left eye from cataracts
A mum branded her own son 'scum' after he neglected his 12-year-old step-child so badly he ended up half blind.
The vulnerable youngster and his two-year-old sister were kept in a filthy, stinking and fly-infested house, with him eventually losing sight in his left eye from cataracts.
Parents Gillian Hendry and Craig Dick, both 34, were jailed for a total of almost five years last month after they pleaded guilty to child neglect.
Over six years, social services in Stockton, Teesside, missed numerous chances to intervene and help the boy who resorted to scrawling 'Help me' on a wall outside his dirty bedroom.
Now, step-gran Sharon, Dick's mum, has spoken for the first time, agreeing with people calling her son 'scum.'
The 53-year-old, who stayed housebound following online comments her son and Hendry should be hanged, said: "I am in a nightmare I can't wake up from.
"Craig and Gillian were always making excuses why we couldn't call round, especially over the past few months.
"If they'd only have let us in we would have helped them, cleaned the place up, taken action.
"Craig never grew up to be unclean. I can understand why people write 'scum'. I'd feel the same."
The Mirror can also reveal more details from a leaked social services report, revealing how devious Hendry, from Thornaby, Teesside, barred social worker access to anywhere but her living room.
Her son, who was finally rescued in August last year, was not even registered with a dentist or an optician.
A social worker, writing in the report, said: “Miss Hendry appeared to be oblivious to George’s eye and claimed to be unaware that he was unable to see.”
And the official blasted the boy's secondary school for failing to spot the child had been blind for SIX MONTHS, after he had previously received attentive concern from an ex-primary school nurse.
Sharon says she finally got inside the home after the boy was removed by social services and spent eight hours just cleaning the bathroom.
The boy, described as unhygienic, uncommunicative and desperately unhappy, developed crippling arthritis, leaving him at risk of severe disability, but his parents never took him to scheduled hospital appointments.
Aged six, he was still wearing baby 'pull ups', and one school nurse visiting the chaotic home discovered it had mice infestation and no heating or hot water.
The house staircase was dirty, with trodden-in food and bin bags stuffed with dirty nappies. The girl’s cot had a damp and mouldy mattress.
A bedroom had been used as a toilet, with excrement found on the walls, while the children’s beds had filthy mattresses and no covers.
A Serious Case Review into the boy's appalling treatment is ongoing, led by Stockton Borough Council.
