Mother charged with neglect

[Knackeredboot]

This article has been posted on Facebook and has attracted a lot of angry comments about it from people saying the mother should be steriliser and that she's evil.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c864g0evz9jo

The crime was neglect of a baby that resulted in its death from a mother that had failed to notice that her baby hadn't woken in the night for her usual feeds due to the mothers level of intoxication.

There's no indication that the baby would usually have to be woken for feeds, just that it was the babys usual routine.

The mother was awake but drunk. But had she been asleep then would that have been considered neglect too? She checked on the baby from a distance but did not try to stir. Again, I wouldn't go into my 5mo's room regularly in the night for a close up check on them as I would be asleep also.

It says that the level of intoxication was 2.5times the driving limit which is irrelevant as she wasnt driving.

Am i missing something here? I feel like the commenters are being incredibly hard on her based on the little detail in the article. Although I'm not a big drinker I know loads of couples that get smashed on the weekend while at home with the kids.

If the baby could have been saved by her earlier intervention then it would have be manslaughter. It sounds like that’s not the case so the lesser charge of neglect was made.

She would have been tested hours later after the baby had been found dead.

That is neglect.

You should not be shitfaced in sole charge of a small infant. When my DH is away I won’t drink more than one glass of wine and my kids are 4 and 6. The fact is had she not been drunk she might have been alerted to the fact her child wasn’t breathing.

Where was the Dad?

that is irrelevant

How is this relevant?
Can a women never be accountable for their own actions?

i do feel desperately sorry for that woman. Yes she was drunk and neglectful but nobody deserves for their baby to die

Yes unless she was under the belief the dad was watching the children and he left her without notice, which there’s absolutely no indication that’s the case, it’s entirely irrelevant. Just like when nursery workers abuse children or fall short we don’t blame the mother.

They probably can’t determine exactly but yes. I was thinking baby could have been on too soft a surface and breathing recycled air or overheated.

I feel sorry for the baby.

Would you say that about all criminals? Most will have struggles with mental health it doesn’t decriminalise their actions.

Surely people understand that the Jury will have been presented with hours if not days, of evidence from prosecution and defence to reach that conclusion. They don't just read the BBC article and make a decision.

I didn’t drink when I had the care of my baby. I knew my partner was completely unreliable and I could not trust him. He was the one who would be drunk at night or on Valium or Xanax. I was the one who did everything at night and during the day.

I would check on my baby regularly. My baby slept in my room until well over 12 months old. A five month old baby needs a mother who does not get drunk at night.

And the mother was negligent. You’re meant to keep your baby in the room with you. You’re meant to check on your baby during the night. She didn’t because she was drunk and her drug alcohol amount was measured after the death of her infant was discovered - which meant it was likely a lot higher during the night.

Where was the father in all this and why wasn’t he charged with neglect?

And the baby probably would’ve still died.
Her actions didn’t cause the death
Neglected is pushing it unless there’s a catalogue of other stuff that we’re not being made aware of

Two people bring a baby into the world it’s not irrelevant to ask where the second person is.

I thought they wanted 50-50 care these days the menz

In terms of you missing something - she left her baby on a sofa and consumed a lot of alcohol with her friend. She took herself outside multiple times but not once did she check on her baby. She absolutely should have been charged. She sounds like a selfish person. The baby had been dead so long it had rigid mortis. That takes 6 to 12 hours.

Maybe they did, and it wasn’t his 50% of the time when this occurred?
Actually it’s unlikely it would be deemed in a baby’s best interests for the father to have overnight care when the baby is so young.
We have no idea where the father was. The jury will have had far more access to the relevant information than we do.

Bizarre behaviour from both the mother and friend, at nearly 40 it should be common sense not to leave a baby on a sofa whilst you get wrecked. If this was pre-drinking ahead of her birthday, you'd have thought she could have waited another day to get paralytically drunk until she (presumably) had childcare.

That said, I don't agree with people who leave harsh comments on easily identifiable news articles etc, when there's a high likelihood that the family will read them and be further upset.

Presumably the father wasent there otherwise he would have been..

That’s why she was charged with neglect and not manslaughter, irrespective of the outcome she was still neglectful.

Although I'm not a big drinker I know loads of couples that get smashed on the weekend while at home with the kids.

I don't think getting smashed while in charge of children is ever acceptable. You really can't look after them properly in that condition, let alone deal with emergencies, illness or injuries.

has examples of several people 2 - 2.5 times the limit. They're swaying while standing, stumbling over their words and having trouble following the conversation. They're unmistakably drunk.

Plus these are people who are likely being tested only an hour or two after they had their last drink. To be tested at that level the following morning would require you to be absolutely shit-faced the night before.

And if the baby had been fine, nobody would’ve batted an eyelid. Let’s be honest.

Nobody would have known. That’s rather different to nobody thinking it was wrong.