THE photographs are shocking. They show the inside of a York council house. The kitchen worktops are piled high with dirty dishes, the floor littered with pet food, the stove streaked with grime.

If anything, the pictures don’t do justice to the squalor. When police visited, they found the property full of flies, rotting food and rubbish. It was in this house that a small five-year-old boy lived with his mother and step-father for months: until he was found one day walking alone down a street in York.

A court heard the boy’s worried teachers repeatedly contacted his mother. But despite their warnings, his health was neglected so badly that several of his teeth had rotted, and his speech and general level of education were well below the average for his age.

It is deeply shocking to learn a child was living in such conditions in modern-day York. The only silver lining is that at least his case came to light when it did. The boy has been placed with foster carers, where he is said to be doing well.

Now, both his mother and step-father have been given suspended prison sentences. Judge Rodney Jameson QC said he found it hard to believe the mother could have let her son live in such squalor unless she had some form of psychological problem.

He said he was taking a ‘leap of faith’ in not locking her up. It was possible social workers might one day want to allow the boy to live with his mother again, the judge said: but he urged any family court to think ‘long and hard’ before permitting that.

We agree entirely. In future, the child’s interests must be paramount. Nothing must get in the way of that.