Mother left baby home alone

http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/eadt/news/story.aspx?brand=EADOnline&category=News&tBrand=EADOnline&tCategory=xDefault&itemid=IPED22%20May%202009%2022%3A50%3A51%3A720

JAMES HORE

Last updated: 23/05/2009 06:00:00
A MOTHER who abandoned her 21-day-old baby at home in order to go to the pub for a drink has been given a suspended jail sentence for child neglect.

Emma Kearsley was sentenced to 16 weeks after she left her son alone for at least an hour-and-a-quarter and was found with a glass of wine in hand at the Cherry Tree pub in Colchester near her home.

Kearsley gave birth to her son Alfie Gillanders on December 1 last year, but police were called to her house in Blackheath by her ex-partner who said he was concerned about his child's welfare.

Officers arrived at the house in Nathan Court at about 10.30pm and looked through a window to see the little baby crying in his Moses basket.

They spent five minutes ringing the bell and knocking the door before forcing their way inside, Colchester Magistrates' Court heard yesterday.

Kearsley was nowhere to be seen so a search was launched and the 28-year-old was discovered just before 11.45pm with a glass of wine at her local pub - the Cherry Tree - on Mersea Road.

Ian Allen, prosecuting, said Kearsley was dressed in night attire with a drink in her hand and smelt of “intoxicating liquor”.

He said Kearsley did not appear to be drunk but was emotional.

During police interviews she admitted to leaving her baby home alone so she could get some cigarettes from the pub and said she thought she had only been out for about 10 minutes.

Mr Allen said: “When it was put to her that she had been absent for at least an hour-and-a-quarter she was unable to offer an explanation.”

Kearsley, who pleaded guilty to child neglect at an earlier hearing, sat in the dock crying as the details of the case emerged.

James Baird Murray, mitigating, said Kearsley had “little or no self-esteem” and she was “put upon and put upon” by former partners.

He said his client had argued with the baby's father earlier in the day before going to the pub where she admitted drinking wine.

Mr Baird Murray said her house had been clean and warm and said that jail would not help Kearsley.

“Spending six weeks sitting on your bottom in prison never cures anything - it does not lead to rehabilitation,” he warned.

The court was told the age of the baby made it “particularly vulnerable”.

Chair of the bench, Dr Ilona Perkins van Mil, sentenced Kearsley to 16 weeks, suspended for 18 months, and handed her an 18-month supervision order.

Kearsley was also placed on a 12-month alcohol treatment programme and ordered to pay £70 costs.

Dr Perkins van Mil said: “This is an offence of abandonment of a child even for a short period, which is taken extremely seriously by the courts.

“You have shown remorse and although this offence does cross what is called the custody threshold it is not appropriate to impose a term of imprisonment.”

james.hore@eadt.co.uk

Crime and punishment works for some for not for all.

SharonS wrote:Crime and punishment works for some for not for all.

Exactly Sharon...or some are protected more than others!

Her baby was only 21 days old. Come on now, Madeleine was old enough to look after her siblings.