A desperate child knocked on a neighbour’s door and told her: “Mum has left me for five days and she has not come back.”

The six-year-old was sobbing hysterically and shaking after being left to fend for herself at her home in Willow Road, Dartford, a court heard.

Natalie Terry’s daughter survived in the cold flat in winter by eating crisps, drinking water and watching television.

Terry admitted child cruelty and was jailed for 18 months.

Maidstone Crown Court heard police were called and the 28-year-old was arrested. When interviewed, she said: “I neglected my daughter, end of.”

Terry’s flat was sparsely furnished, with no carpets and was extremely cold. There was a flat screen television.

The kitchen was dirty with little food in it and a kitten had defecated in every room.

When Terry finally returned she went to a neighbour and asked if she had seen her daughter. Told she was with the police, Terry declared: “I will not get her back.”

She told officers she worked nights in a shop at Woolwich and tried to get home before her daughter awoke.

“I am doing everything I can to earn money and keep my job,” she added.

The child told police she dressed for school and waited for her mum but when she did not return took off her uniform and watched television.

She ate crisps and yoghurt and drank water during the five days in November 2010.

When she realised she was on her own, it made her feel sad, the court was told.

There is no suggestion she was locked in.

"i neglected my daughter, end of…” – natalie terry

Terry said there had been other occasions when she left her daughter alone for short periods.

The child, now eight, was taken into care and then placed with Terry’s mother. Terry, now of Wildfell Road, Catford, was now having supervised contact.

A report stated it would be devastating for the girl if the contact was broken. “There is concern she may well feel responsible if her mother received a sentence of immediate imprisonment,” it added.

Judge Martin Joy said it was deeply troubling that the girl was taking responsibility for her mother’s actions.

“She was living in utterly insanitary conditions,” said the judge. “She was in fear and distress. That was for a considerable time in November.

“I take the view, having considered all the matters, this is a matter of high culpability and the offence is so serious a non-custodial sentence cannot be justified,” added the judge.

Trevor Wright, defending, said Terry had genuine regret for the harm she caused her daughter.

“It is difficult for me to convey to the court the depth of her emotional regret,” he said.

Mr Wright said Terry spent eight months in a refuge after domestic violence. When she moved into the flat she had nothing. She had a crushing problem with money and was in arrears with her rent.

“She became so overwhelmed with this problem she found it difficult to provide even the essentials,” said Mr Wright. “She just withdrew and shut down. She couldn’t explain it.”