A nine year old from Sax near Alicante has been placed in the care of her grandparents after it was discovered that the parents had been neglecting her to the point whetre she was ill.

The case was brought to the attention of social services after the child stopped attending school.The girl was taken to the local hospital for a check up and it was discovered that she had intestinal parasites plus other illnesses and injuries.

The court in Alicante gave the parents a three month prison sentence for their neglect of their daughter,However the lawyer for the parents asked for a suspended sentence to enable the parents to attend special parenting classes.This was agreed by the court with the proviso that should they re-offend then they would receive a longer sentence.The maximum sentence for child neglect is six months in prison and the minimum is a fine.These parents will now be closely monitored by social services.