After leaving five of her eight children home alone for 12 hours while she went out to a nightclub, the mother of those children appeared before a magistrate.
After attempting to arrange a babysitter for the night in February of last year, the 34-year-old woman appeared before Townsville Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
The mother left the kids, including a nine-month-old infant, to care for themselves even though the 17-year-old babysitter did not arrive.
A neighbor raised the alarm when she discovered a little child alone outdoors in the morning. One of the older kids accidentally left a door open, allowing the toddler to escape.
The mother entered a guilty plea to a number of charges, including theft, leaving a kid under 12 unattended (a domestic abuse offense), and handling store items without authorization.
With a blood alcohol level of 0.052, she also acknowledged responsibility for operating a vehicle while intoxicated but below the intermediate limit, according to the Townsville Bulletin.
The lady, according to police prosecutor Erin Collis, had been changed after stealing groceries and a t-shirt while out on bail.
Over the “most worrisome offense,” Ms. Collins suggested a variety of penalties, including a hefty fine, license suspension, and a probationary term.
Darryn Casson, the woman’s defense attorney, said that his client had a “traumatic childhood” without her parents, struggled with mental illness, and had been homeless.
He said that while she had made an effort to arrange a sitter for the evening, she “unfortunately didn’t follow through.”
She had “paid for some products,” according to Mr. Casson, on the day of the theft offenses because she had been “in a hurry.”
The mother was told in court that she had no prior DUI convictions and had no idea why she had stolen the t-shirt.
The five children being left alone for a “significant amount of time,” according to Acting Magistrate Scott Luxton, was a “severe crime.”
Magistrate Luxton said, “It was good fortune more than excellent management that none of those youngsters experienced any injury as a consequence of your activities.”
Additionally, he agreed that she had no relevant criminal background.
She received a $1,750 fine, a $30 reparation mandate, and a one-month license suspension.