Neighbours of Whyalla mum Shay Bilney found guilty of child neglect say they heard regular screaming

More details have emerged about young Whyalla mum Shay Bilney, with neighbours aiming some blame at an “understaffed” Department for Child Protection.

Shay Ellen Bilney pleaded guilty to criminal neglect. Picture: Supplied

Schulz Avenue is very Whyalla in so many ways – dry and shadeless with rows of clay brick, heavily secured homes.

And the people there are angry.

In July 2023, SA police attending a home on the avenue arrested methamphetamine-using young mother Shay Bilney for child neglect after her 18-month-old daughter was found sitting in her four-day-old nappy filled with faeces and maggots.

The toddler’s pyjamas were soaked in urine causing blisters to fester all over her legs.

The 26-year-old mother-of-three pleaded guilty to criminal neglect and was last week sentenced to six months jail, which was suspended on a two-year good behaviour bond.

A Schulz Avenue resident told the Sunday Mail she wasn’t even sure her neighbour had children.

“She never took them anywhere, they were never even playing in the backyard. It was like they were just kept in their rooms,” she said.

The home where Shay Bilney lived with her children before she was arrested and charged with child neglect. Picture: Dean Martin

The woman said 26-year-old Bilney moved out of the Schulz Avenue home two months ago.

“She gets to go in and tell a big sob story in court and doesn’t even get a slap on the wrist? “Our kids are the most defenceless,” she said.

Two doors down, Sandra takes a different tact.

Sandra and her sister told the Sunday Mail that DCP in Whyalla was understaffed, didn’t offer the right services and failed to act when they should.

The Department for Child Protection had been involved with Bilney since early 2023 and had visited her just two weeks before she was charged with child neglect but did not remove the children.

“The other thing is, she was a victim of domestic violence,” Sandra said.

“We heard screaming often and a guy who would often get carted off with blood on him.

“But she kept letting him back in. There is nowhere to go if you are a DV victim.”

Schulz Avenue in Whyalla where Shay Bilney lived with her children. Picture: Dean Martin

The court heard that Bilney reported a former partner was very violent and one assault caused her to have a seizure.

In May last year, Bilney was hospitalised after being badly assaulted.

The court also heard Bilney had been badly assaulted by her own father while in Alice Springs as a teenager and her mother told the psychologist “she was never the same when she returned”.

The house on Schulz Avenue where Bilney lived faced her son’s primary school.

“After they took him away and she got out of jail, she used to sit on her porch and cry if she didn’t see him playing in the yard that day, and I just thought ‘you cry now they are taken away, why didn’t you care so much when it was your job to’,” another neighbour said.

A DCP spokeswoman said they couldn’t comment on individual cases but the safety of children was the department’s highest priority.

“DCP works with families to help them to address challenges so their children can, where possible, safely live at home,” she said.

“We are continually working to drive positive change and improvements that help ensure the child protection and family support system is the best it can be in its work to keep children safe.”

Originally published as Neighbours of Whyalla mum Shay Bilney found guilty of child neglect say they heard regular screaming