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A SEVEN-year-old girl found dead in her NSW home, apparently from starvation, had once been locked in a room full of rubbish and human excrement, an anonymous foster carer claims.


Shellay Ward allegedly weighed just 9kg when she was found dead on Saturday at her home in Hawks Nest, north of Newcastle.

An email from a foster carer, who claims to have knowledge of at least two people who notified the Department of Community Services (DOCS) about Shellay, was read out on Macquarie radio this morning.

“DOCS were notified about this family a number of times,” the email said.

“A number of people in close proximity had made notifications about the family.”

The email said Shellay “was only seen out of the house once in five years”.

“Shellay actually broke the window which was then repaired and boarded up. However, the child could still be heard in her room for lengthy periods calling out to her parents.”

DOCS was notified about the “horrendous” state of the girl’s room when the family moved from Sydney to north of Newcastle, the email said.

“A notification though was made to DOCS after the family moved from Sydney to north of Newcastle,” it read.

“They informed of the horrendous state of the house that they resided in … particularly Shellay’s room which had faeces and urine in it.

“The Department of Housing had to employ people to shovel the rubbish out of the house.”

The email also said one child had been removed from the family and the Education Department had been in touch with the family because Shellay and her older siblings did not attend school.

“The Education Department has been in constant touch with the family regarding the non-attendance of the older children at school,” it said.

Comment was being sought from the NSW Government.

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