A woman was arrested and charged with neglect of a child after leaving a four-year-old alone for several hours to drink with her friend.
30-year-old Natalie Bell from Greater Manchester, England, was in charge of watching over a four-year-old in January last year. Despite being responsible for the little girl, Bell left her all alone in her apartment as she went drinking at her friend’s flat at 10 in the evening.
For nine hours, until 7 in the morning, the woman was reportedly hanging out with her friend while the four-year-old was alone at her unlocked apartment.
On the following morning, emergency responders arrived at the building where the two friends were drinking after other residents reported a water leak.
As the authorities found out, the source of the leak was the apartment of Bell’s friend where the 30-year-old reportedly left the kitchen sink running while in a drunken state.
After entering the flat, the emergency respondents came across the two women whom they originally presumed dead because they were unresponsive. Once they managed to wake them up, however, Bell became aggressive, prompting the police to arrest her.
Later, the authorities also discovered a 4-year-old at Bell’s apartment and found out the 30-year-old was responsible for looking over the child while she was gone from her flat.
After pleading guilty to child neglect, the 30-year-old was issued an 18-month community order and told to complete 120 hours of unpaid work. Bell is also facing a 9-month alcohol treatment program.
“It seems when you are in the company of certain people, you drink to excess and that is what happened in this particular incident,” Judge Maurice Greene said as she addressed Bell during the sentencing.
“This child was left alone for nine hours and the child could have got out as the door was unlocked. You weren’t there to protect the child whom it was your job to protect. It was your responsibility, and you failed in that responsibility.”
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Replaced!