Buzzin Disgrace

In September 2007, little Tiffany Hirst, three-years-old, was left to die in her bug-invested bedroom by her mother and step-father at the Scarborough Arms in Upperthorpe, Sheffield.

Tiffany was dead for two days in her locked room before she was even checked on by her so called parents.

The child had died from pneumonia due to being severely malnourished when the paramedics arrived. She was covered in insect bites in a filthy bed and had not been fed for at least 20 hours.

The Detective Chief Inspector, Steve Williams said,

“We think this neglect has been going on for months and that those last few months, weeks and days of her life she was unloved, unwanted, starved of attention and left alone to die and she would have known that. Children are a gift who should be cherished; parents everywhere, those who have lost them and people unable to have them will find this treatment unbearable and unthinkable.

We have heard that Tiffany would be seen staring out of her bedroom window and this was probably the little girls cry for help but nobody realised - it is heartbreaking.

She was a tiny porcelain doll, so tiny and frail and we all wondered how this had been allowed to happen in this day and age.

This must never happen again and if people have any concerns at all or suspicions about the welfare of a child they must call somebody because out of every thousand calls followed up if only one turns out to be founded and a child’s life is saved it is worth it.”

At the court hearing, it was said that the living quarters at the Scarborough Arms were “filthy and dangerous” with electrical wires hanging from the walls and that the family dogs were kept in a room that was covered in excrement and urine.

The family last had a visit from a health visitor in February 2007, when Tiffany was described as appearing “healthy and well.”

Her evil mother, Sabrina Hirst, 22-years-old, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and her step-father, Robert Hirst, 54-years-old, pleaded guilty to neglect.

The mother was jailed for just 12-years on 27th June and the step-father for just five years after admitting child cruelty and neglect.

A Serious Case Review is underway by Sheffield Safeguarding Children Board into the death of Tiffany and also the neglect of another child aged 12-months, which the couple have also admitted to.

At the hearing, Judge Alan Goldsack QC said,

“One almost unbelievable piece of evidence is that on what was probably Tiffany’s last day alive you, Sabrina Hirst, were discussing on the phone concerns you had for one of your dog’s weight and feeding problems.”

The court also heard how Robert Hirst initially wanted to adopt Tiffany after getting involved with her mother in 2004. However, after the couple married in 2006, he became more detached from her. A witness claimed to have heard him shouting at the child saying,

“You little bitch, Eat your f****g food”

The pub’s CCTV apparently captured the couple after the mother had found Tiffany, and as she sat sobbing he was heard to say,

“We’ve f****d it all up - we’re going to get banged up for this.”

The judge described the case as,

“about as bad a case of child manslaughter as there can be.”

He said that if she had been convicted of murder then he could have sentenced the mother to 22-years in jail. A South Yorkshire Crown Prosecution Service spokeswoman has said that a statement would be issued next week about why the murder charge against Sabrina Hirst was dropped.

She deserves to die for what she did to that little girl, I can’t believe there is any good reason to drop the charges of murder to manslaughter but we will see what the statement has to say.

I still can’t believe that this woman who call herself a mother, got away with manslaughter, even the Judge questioned the decision by prosecutors not to pursue a murder charge. How after abandoning a three-year-old child with no food and water can this possibly be manslaughter, it was murder.