East Lothian woman forced child to take cold showers and live in filthy home

Edinburgh Live

4 days ago

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An East Lothian woman assaulted and forced a young child to take cold showers during a seven-year campaign of abuse.
Stacey Peters, 31, also allowed the child to live in filthy conditions when the youngster stayed over at her former home in Musselburgh.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told the furniture and window sills in Peters' house were covered in cat excrement and the rooms were strewn with rubbish.
The court heard the property was 'not fit for a child to live in' and at one point was so dirty police were forced to seal the house off until improvements were made.
Prosecutor Xander van der Scheer told the court investigations began after the child disclosed to a teacher at their primary school that the woman 'hits her and [they] hit her back' when she stayed at the property.
The youngster showed the teacher scratches on their arm and the school's head teacher was informed and child protection procedures were put in place in November 2023.
The child was subsequently interviewed by social services where they said Peters would 'put [them] in a cold shower when [they] misbehaved' and she would also strike them on the bottom.
The child told the social worker they had to put packets of frozen vegetables on their behind to soothe the injuries. Police attended at Peters' home and found the flat to be 'full of rubbish and cat litter everywhere'.
Mr van der Scheer said officers found cat excrement on the furniture and window sills and a decision was made to seal the property off for cleaning after they deemed it 'not fit for a child to live in'.
The court heard on one occasion the child was found in tears while locked out and sitting on the doorstep of the property while Peters was inside.
The court was told the child does not visit or stay over at the woman's home anymore and is said to be 'scared' of her.
Peters, who has since moved to Whitecraig, East Lothian, pleaded guilty to wilfully neglecting the child in a manner likely to cause them unnecessary suffering or injury to health when she appeared at the capital court last month.
Court papers also state Peters forced the child to live in an environment detrimental to their health, on one occasion locked them out of the property, forced them to have cold showers and struck and scratched them, all between February 2016 and November 2023.
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She returned to the dock for sentencing where lawyer David Allan, defending, admitted his client is facing 'a serious charge' and that 'the custody threshold has been met in this case'.
But Mr Allan said the social work report was positive and added: 'Ms Peters takes full responsibility for her behaviour and does not seek to minimise it in any way.'
Sheriff Fergus Thomson said: 'I have listened very carefully as to what has been said on your behalf and this is a sad situation altogether.
'These are serious offences but there is an alternative to custody here.'
Peters was placed on a community payback order where she will be supervised for the next 12 months and will have to carry out 90 hours of unpaid work in the community as punishment.