At her trial Rose had suggested someone called “Jade” was with the children when she went out, said Judge Lucraft.

“The true position was that you left four boys aged four or under on their own,” he said.

In mitigation, Laurie-Anne Power KC said that Rose had “asked for help and it was not forthcoming”.

Her four children were “loved and cherished” and “looked after by her and her alone, while struggling with what are described by experienced psychiatrists as complex psychiatric mental health needs”.

“She should not be punished any further than she has been for the lies she has told,” Ms Power said. “She perhaps suffered the greatest loss of all.”

Although Rose’s mental health had some influence on her actions, the judge said he did not find her responsibility was substantially reduced.

There were “missed opportunities” to remove the children when conditions at their home started to deteriorate, the defence said.

During the Covid pandemic, with very little support, she had visited her GP and said she could not cope.

By their acquittal of the defendant on the count of child cruelty the jury had been of the view she “was trying her best”, the defence added.