Drunk dad who left children home-alone while he went to buy alcohol then assaulted partner is spared jail

A dad who was so drunk he forgot he had left three children, including a seven month old baby, home alone while he went to the shop to buy more alcohol has been spared jail.
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The 26-year-old was put before Leeds Crown Court yesterday (Monday) to be sentenced for three counts of child neglect and one count of assault by beating, following a series of events on March 2 this year.

The court heard that on that day, the defendant's partner was at work doing a 12 hour shift as a carer and he was looking after the children.

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When she got home at around 8pm she found the house in "disarray", rubbish everywhere, the seven month old child in an adult bed with no nappy on and the defendant drunk. An argument took place and he pushed her, when she pushed him away he struck her in the mouth, grabbed her arms and threw her and she fell into some drawers and onto the floor.

Leeds Crown CourtLeeds Crown Court
Leeds Crown Court

She suffered bruising to her arm and pain in her elbow, ribs and mouth.

James Yearsley, prosecuting, said the altercation had taken place in front of the baby and while the other two children were in the house at Pontefract.

The defendant then went to the garden to wait for police to arrive and later conceded he had been drinking vodka since 11am, left the house to get more alcohol and believed he had taken the children with him, forgetting he had left them home alone.

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It was also stated in court that the defendant had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and had engaged with rehabilitation and social services since the incident to address his issues with drink.

Michael Devlin, defending, said: "A key factor is the approach to rehabilitation and there is a high likelihood of that, his excellent compliance with help that has been offered and that he has sought and readily taken.

"He pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, stood there to be arrested and volunteered the information about leaving the children."

Judge, Ms Recorder K. Melly QC said: "The three children were in your sole care, you left them alone while you went to the shops. When she returned she found the baby without a nappy on to simply urinate themselves and on a bed from, if she had fallen, would have been injured. The house was a complete state, there were no clean items in the kitchen.

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"Whilst I consider the the length of time and the duration of neglect, they were home alone and without proper, sober supervision for a considerable number of hours and you can only imagine how they must have felt being in the care of somebody who was not fit to look after them. This is not a momentary lapse.

"I take into account your background of depression and anxiety, engagement with social services and other services. While it does pass the custody threshold, custody would have a serious and detrimental effect on the good work and progress that you have made."

He was given 10 months for each of the three counts of child neglect, to run concurrent, and two months for the assault charge - totalling 12 months in prison, which was suspended.