Mother denies abandoning children

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/west_yorkshire/7611439.stm

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A woman accused of leaving her three children home alone while she visited Afghanistan has denied abandoning them.

Simten Sadiq's three children, aged 11, six and five, were found hiding under a bed at their home on Alexandra Grove in Burley, Leeds, on 30 August.

Police said the trainee teacher, 33, was arrested on suspicion of wilful neglect by officers when she arrived at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday night.

Mrs Sadiq said the care arrangements she had made had been fulfilled.

It is thought she had been honeymooning with her new husband.

'I feel awful'

Speaking outside her home in Leeds on Thursday, Mrs Sadiq said: "The children are fine, I'm just going to see them right now.

"No, I didn't [abandon them] I would never.

"There were arrangements with the other two ladies who were supposed to be looking after them.

"I mean, they did not let me down.

"I feel awful, I feel, awful, I have to go now because the kids are waiting."

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said: "A 33-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of wilful neglect in relation to an incident in Burley on Saturday, August 30, in which three children were found at an address with no adult present."

She was brought back to Leeds for questioning and later released on bail pending further inquiries, police said.

Mrs Sadiq's eldest child, aged 14, lives with her ex-husband, Parvez Sadiq, the father of all her children.