A Telford couple who left a 10-month-old baby home alone and tied their three-year-old son up at night have been spared jail.

The man and the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had already had three children placed into care by social services when officers turned up to inspect their home. They found the baby girl who had been left alone in the house, Shrewsbury Crown Court heard yesterday.

The couple, who now have six children all in care, appeared at the court after previously admitting charges of wilful misconduct and neglect.

The father of the children was sentenced to 42 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work.

The mother received a 12 week suspended sentence and must also complete 100 hours work in the community.

Social services carried out the home check in Telford after staff at a town nursery confronted the mother over red marks found on the three-year-old boy’s wrists, the court was told.

When asked about it, the boy said his father had tied him up with string while he was in bed.

Nursery staff also said the boy was hungrier than normal and had started stealing from other lunchboxes as well as eating off the floor and from bins, the court heard.

The court was told that at the visit to the house later that day accompanied by the mother on June 23 last year, officers, who had been monitoring the couple, found there was no food in the house.

The eldest child of the three living with them at the time, aged six, was sleeping in a tent, while curtains were used as sheets on one of the beds and dirty nappies littered the house, the court was told.

Mr Mark Sharman, defending the woman, said she “simply could not cope” and that she had tried to take her own life because she was so ashamed of her failings.

Mrs Janet Pitt-Lewis, defending the man, said he felt a great sense of regret and loss that would be a “long-standing punishment” for what he had done.