A 3-year-old boy calls 999 after mum left him home alone

A distressed three-year-old boy who was left at home alone dialed 999 to tell the police he was home alone. This innocent call has gotten his mum into trouble who has been arrested for child neglect.

According to Daily Mail UK,

The 30-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, later told police she ‘thought he would be safe’ after she left him watching television at their home in Bristol. She was arrested after police responded to the 999 call from the scared youngster, and found him alone wearing just a t-shirt and shorts on a cold day in February.

Bristol Magistrates’ Court heard how the incident supposedly came about after the woman lost her keys while the pair dropped her other children at school. She said she realised she had no keys when returning to the property and decided to lift her son through an open window where he could apparently sit with a blanket and watch TV while she went to look for her keys.

Richard Nicholls, prosecuting, told Bristol magistrates the boy dialled 999 after becoming upset when he knocked over a pot. He said: ‘He knocked over a pot and it distressed the boy, who cried “mummy”.’ When police arrived at the property, they climbed through the open window and looked after the boy until the mother turned up an hour later. She was found to be carrying a small amount of cannabis when she returned to the home, which had no heating, electricity or food. She was arrested and her son was taken into temporary care with social services.

While in custody, the single mother told police she thought the child would be safe on his own as he would have just watched TV and said she had woken that morning to find no bread and only sour milk for her children’s breakfast. An investigation which followed established she had also failed to send her other children to primary school on numerous occasions.

Richard Clark, for Bristol City Council, said they had poor attendance records and the mother had a conviction from 2011 after one child had 69 unauthorised days off school. Judy Hampton, defending, said the woman had been the victim of domestic violence and was a single mother struggling to establish a good morning routine with her children. She said she was ‘extremely remorseful’ and added: ‘She is accepting help and working in the right direction.’

The mother pleaded guilty to neglecting a child, two charges of knowingly not sending a child to school and possession of cannabis. She was given a 12-week suspended prison sentence, with two years of supervision, and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £80.

Source: Daily Mail UK