I was reported to social services for ‘child neglect’ after showing the reality of being a council house mum on benefits
A MUM who posts house tidying videos says police were called to her home – by trolls who reported her for “child neglect”.
Nicole Austin, 25, regularly shares clips of her house looking messy to highlight the realities of keeping the house tidy with four children.
But she says this quickly backfired when police officers showed up at her house to check on her children.
Trolls had apparently reported her for having a messy house – which they claimed was child neglect.
Nicole, a full-time content creator from Worthing, West Sussex, said: “It was traumatising. It was horrific.
“I was so scared and so upset and so shaken.
“None of my children went to bed until gone 10pm on a school night because the police were in our house.
“They had to check our cupboards and fridge to make sure that we had food in the house.
“After all of that and having to speak to the kids – they were here for around two hours!”
Nicole has been creating content online since the beginning of March and has quickly amassed a 17,500 following.
With the trolling that comes with posting videos of your lives online, Nicole says she wasn’t surprised when the police showed up at her door.
She said: “I kind of knew it was going to come but I didn’t expect it so soon. I was taken aback a bit.
“Even though I expected it, it was still scary as you can imagine.
“I was just worried about what they would say or if it would escalate.
“I do content creation as a job so I was panicking that the police may ask me to stop.”
After a strenuous two hour visit, the police determined that there was nothing in the report and apologised for turning up at night out of the blue.
Nicole said: “The police were quite reassuring but said they expected it might happen again, due to what we post online.
“They also said they would make sure they called ahead if they got another report, to avoid causing more worry to the kids.”
This isn’t the first time that a troll has reported Nicole.
The previous week, Nicole received a phone call from social services saying they had had a referral for child neglect.
She said: “We had some comments from trolls saying they were going to report us.
“We did reply to them to let them know that our house isn’t always this messy and that the kids were fine.
“But days later, we got a call saying that social services had had a referral for child neglect.
“The social worker was great and told us that if we needed any help in the future that we could give them a call then they closed the case.”
Police say they only comment if someone is charged with an offence.
Where to get help if you're struggling with your mental health
There’s no shame in struggling with your mental health, but the best thing you can do is talk to someone about what you’re going through.
If you feel you or someone else is in urgent danger call 999
You can also speak to the Samaritans on 116 123
Mental healthy charity Mind also provide support on 0300 123 3393 who can provide details on treatments near you
Previously, Nicole revealed she was sick of the state of her house but that mental health problems had gotten in the way of keeping it tidy.
The mum-of-four said: “It’s happened again. Our house looks like a bomb site.
“I don’t wanna be defined as the dirty council house family on benefits.
“This is far from who I am inside, but for some reason we just can’t get on top of this mess.”
In the clip, the mum took viewers around her two-bed council home and showed that their was laundry covering the entirety of the hallway and boxes of toys thrown across the front room.
It was traumatising. It was horrific. None of my children went to bed until gone 10pm on a school night because the police were in our house
Nicole Austin
While Nicole’s husband does help with the kids, he also works full time so it’s obviously difficult to stay on top of it all.
Because the couple live in a high-rent area, they also get benefits to help them with the cost of living.
The mum was waiting to get judged for her home but many praised her for showing the reality of parenthood.
While Nicole clearly was stressed about the mess in her house, many parents took to the comments to show their support and thanked her for sharing the reality of real life with kids and mental health concerns.
One person wrote: “Finally! A true video. It’s so refreshing to see a house how they actually get…. and not the whole come a clean this crumb off my kitchen side with me.”
Another commented: “People don’t understand how quick it gets like this when you’ve got kids!! Let alone struggling with MH! Please don’t feel bad you’re doing so well”
“Sometimes things get messy. You don’t have to explain to anyone. It’s your home,” penned a third.
Meanwhile a fourth said: “This makes me feel so much better, thought was just me but my anxiety gives me no motivation sometimes. You’re so brave showing this.”
“Honestly I get you, I don’t understand how people can keep up with it,” claimed a fifth.
Someone else added: “It’s so easily done when you’re struggling, it’s god damn hard. I’m exactly the same. Thank you for being so transparent.”