A woman living in relative luxury had a dark secret hiding in her home on the outskirts of Sherwood Forest.
Behind a bedroom door only lockable from the outside, a nine-year-old boy was slowly dying in destitution.
Catherine Walker, 47, had become his legal guardian but his room was left in squalor, a stark contrast to the rest of her comfortable house in Warsop, a parish in Nottinghamshire.
There were no curtains in his window, an electric socket was left hanging dangerously off the wall and he had no radiator.
He was found unresponsive in the room on the morning of 16 December 2024.
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The boy died later in hospital.
Walker, a member of staff at Nottinghamshire Police, claimed that renovations had been taking place but this was revealed to be a lie.
Other witnesses claimed there had been clear mistreatment of the boy over a prolonged period of time.
In her defence, Walker’s former husband – who also died shortly after – was the boy’s primary carer and had been mainly responsible for his treatment.
Walker later pleaded guilty to two counts of assault, child neglect and causing unnecessary suffering.
At her sentencing hearing at Nottingham Crown Court on Monday, Catherine Walker – also known as Kathryn – was jailed for six years.
In sentencing, Judge Stuart Rafferty KC said Walker had deliberately concealed and covered up the ‘gratuitous degradation’ of the boy, adding that she had effectively sentenced herself to ‘a life of shame.’
DCI Gail Routledge said: ‘This was one of the most upsetting cases I can remember.
‘This boy was very clearly mistreated for a significant period of time and was living in conditions that no child should have to endure.
‘It was always our case that this mistreatment was a deliberate choice by the defendant, rather than the result of neglectful parenting.
‘I am pleased she has now been held to account for her role in his death.’
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