Mother admits child neglect in court after boy, two, is found home alone

Police found a two-year-old boy had been left home alone in Leeds after a neighbour raised the alarm.

The man had gone round to the house at 8pm to tell the boy’s mother her cat had come to his house but when he repeatedly knocked he could only hear the child running around inside.

Eventually he saw the door handle shaking and told the boy to get his mother but in response was told: “My mummy’s hiding, my mummy’s gone.”

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Police found the child, who cannot be identified, in a dirty condition, with head lice and in soiled clothes.

He was well nourished but he was taken into care.

When his mother was seen at the property around 4.35am, Leeds Crown Court heard her speech was slurred and she was unsteady on her feet.

She maintained she had only been out a short time and that her son must have take off his own nappy and soiled the house while she was away.

The 23-year-old who admitted child neglect was given a 12 months community order with supervision after Judge Scott Wolstenholme heard she has bi-polar disorder and is now under the care of a community mental health team while her son is living with a relative.