Bloated welfare system has lost its moral purpose

THE scene that greeted the police when they arrived at the Eastbourne flat was one of unimaginable squalor.

- Leo McKinstry

Almost choking on the putrid stench in the air, they saw a seven-year-old child on a sofa, covered in animal faeces and lying next to the corpse of a dead dog. It was a horrifying image that embodied the criminal regime of cruelty and neglect to which the occupiers, Gemma Brogan and her partner Christopher Bennett, subjected the seven children and 35 dogs that lived with them in this foul, filthy home. Their callousness was also reflected in the youngsters' poor social skills, decayed teeth, matted hair, physical weakness and inability to read or write.

Following their arrest in June last year and subsequent trial, Brogan and Bennett were each sentenced to six years in prison this month. But what is striking about this case is that their inhumanity did not stem from lack of money. In fact, the evil pair were receiving no less than £ 84,000 a year from the welfare state, much of this incredible sum made up of disability living payments supposedly to meet the needs of their vulnerable children.

"How was this allowed to happen?" asked the judge in the case, Stephen Mooney. Part of the answer is that too much of the benefits system has lost its moral purpose.