Mom, kids locked up in flat in France
2013-01-09 19:00
Saint-Nazaire - French authorities on Wednesday opened an
investigation into the shocking case of a mother and her four children, who
appear to have been locked up for at least a year in squalid conditions in
their council flat.
The father, the only member of the household seen by
neighbours in over a year, has been detained in a psychiatric hospital since
the family was discovered by emergency services who responded to a call from
the mother during the night of Friday to Saturday.
The children, aged 14, 17, 19 and 20, and described as
having learning difficulties, were found prostrate in the mould-covered
apartment in a block of social housing in the rundown port of Saint-Nazaire on
France's Atlantic coast.
Neighbours thought the mother, Christine Barreteau, 47,
and the children had left her partner, Dominique Barreteau, 51.
He was regularly seen putting out rubbish or coming back
with shopping but never responded to any greetings.
The organisation that runs the housing block said they
had no indication of the flat having got into such a dilapidated state, despite
bolts having been attached to the outside of the door and windows.
But neighbour Pascale Le Gall said she had alerted
officials to the foul smell coming from the flat and to an incident in which
she had been threatened by the father.
A fifth child of the family, an elder daughter, was
helping police with their enquiries.
