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Original poster

No jail for woman who left blind/deaf 6 yr old outside overnight

35 replies

MollieO · 12/05/2010 20:57

Here. I cannot understand how this woman didn't get a custodial sentence. Maybe someone better versed in the Scottish legal system than me could explain?

OP posts:
juneybean · 12/05/2010 21:00

FFS, poor child could have died! It's sickening.

thisisyesterday · 12/05/2010 21:00

omg that is awful, i hope to goodness that the child is now being taken care of by someone decent

twolittlemonkeys · 12/05/2010 21:01

Disgusting IMO. I cried when I read that story when it first came out and I'm shocked she hasn't been given a sentence.

ronshar · 12/05/2010 21:03

OMFG.
I cant believe that a mother could do that to her child. Any adult could do that.
At the very least I hope SS are keeping a very sharp eye on this feckless waste of humanity.

toccatanfudge · 12/05/2010 21:06

ronshar - she wasn't the mother of he child

Original poster
MollieO · 12/05/2010 21:07

I remember this story when it was first in the news. I understand that part of sentencing is to ensure the offender is rehabilitated but surely part is about punishment. From what I read today it seems that the judge has considered this woman's rehabilitation but not a punishment. I thought that this woman wasn't the child's mother but I can only surmise from the lack of punishment and the lack of naming the child that she is.

OP posts:
Pancakeflipper · 12/05/2010 21:14

I recall this and I thought she was not the mother of the child but until this incident had been a very stable adult in the little girl's life ( which sounds to be have been rocky to say the least).

Merle · 12/05/2010 21:16

Difficult to tell from here what the circumstances which lead to her looking after the child were.

The report refers to this being an 'isolated incident'. Maybe this woman has never been in trouble before.

Perhaps she is extremely remorseful; horrified that this child could have died.

Maybe she was not used to drinking large amounts but for some reason, got drunker than she realised, quicker than she realised, and fell asleep.

What if she holds down a job/other responsibilities, which she would lose if she went to prison.

The judge might have thought that nothing would be gained by locking her up, other than making an example of her (don't get drunk and leave a child outside).

thisisyesterday · 12/05/2010 21:24

sorry, i too assumed she was the mother, but i guess not?

i don't care about her life and job and all that

she shoudln't have been drinking at all, or certainly not more than a glass of wine or 2, if she was taking care of a child. especially a disabled child who may have needed a lot more attention than your average child

it's disgusting

ronshar · 12/05/2010 21:24

Bloody hell.
Why cant they report all the facts not just the sensational one.
Makes me angry.

Still doesnt change the basic facts that a blind and deaf little girl was left strapped in a buggy, at night, all night.
No excuse.
How absolutley terrifying for her. can you imagine what she went through. I have to stop as it is making me cry.

SixtyFootDoll · 12/05/2010 21:27

Poor little girl

Is this the 21sst century or Dickensian britain?
FFSS.

Original poster
MollieO · 12/05/2010 21:28

In the original reporting of this incident there was no mention of where the parents were. That coupled with today's reporting makes me think that she is closely related to this poor child. I also recall that the child was found on the ground with her face on the path - ie she had obviously struggled to try and get out of the pushchair which had then toppled over on top of her. Made me cry at the time and makes me feel sick thinking about it now.

OP posts:
shockers · 12/05/2010 21:38

If school transport came to pick the child up from her home, it must be where she lives or stays for most of the time.

AgentProvocateur · 12/05/2010 22:44

My guess is that she is the permanent carer of the child, and that it wouldn't be in the child's interests to send her to jail.

2shoes · 12/05/2010 22:54

sick
she should have been locked up and the key thrown away

2shoes · 12/05/2010 22:55

I have to hide this thread, I can't bear to think of that poor little girl, out side freezing

Original poster
MollieO · 12/05/2010 22:57

AP it makes me sad to think you may be right as far as her being the permanent carer and also sad to think that she has no one else who apparently is better to care for her. I cannot think of any circumstance that makes what this woman did okay.

OP posts:
TheCrackFox · 12/05/2010 22:58

I hope SS are keeping a very close eye on her.

atomicsnowflake · 12/05/2010 23:21

The child should be permanently removed from her and she should be sterilised, preferably without anaesthetic.

The child could so easily have died and must have been utterly terrified for all those freezing, lonely hours.

JustMyTwoPenceWorth · 12/05/2010 23:25

sterilised without anaesthetic? Well, I wouldn't go that far, atomicsnow.

However, it is good to know that, as long as you've never done it before, it is apparently ok in the eyes of the law to half kill a disabled child.

I'll make a note of that for next time the kids are playing up.

atomicsnowflake · 12/05/2010 23:37

I think without anaesthetic might help to 'focus' her mind. I was badly abused and neglected as a kid and I don't have much humanity towards 'parents' like this. My views can be extreme, but that's just the way I am.

PosyPetrovaPauline · 12/05/2010 23:45

she was the 'babysitter'

Original poster
MollieO · 12/05/2010 23:48

That is what it said when this story was first reported but if that is all she is (ie not main carer) then I really don't understand the total lack of punishment. I wonder if the CPS will appeal the sentencing? If they don't then their must be more to this than has been reported.

OP posts:
Original poster
MollieO · 12/05/2010 23:51

there not their (pedant)

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TiggyR · 13/05/2010 15:09

So if she was the babysitter, and she went 'home' to where the child clearly lives (as she was being collected for school from there) where, and who, were the parents? It has overtones of the recent case where a woman 'couldn't cope' with her little boy so she paid a 'friend' £50 a week or whatever it was, to look after him.

Dear God, it's brings to mind those 19th century paintings of urban peasants, so off their heads on gin that they are dropping their babies on their heads or into the Thames.