A drunken mum was so wasted her five-year-old boy sought help from a neighbour. And when police were called the mum claimed she had epilepsy and the alcohol smell from her was "hand gel".
The 45-year-old from Weston-super-Mare, who Bristol Live is not naming to protect the identity of the child, pleaded guilty to child cruelty as well as assaulting an emergency worker. She appeared at Bristol Crown Court for sentence.
Judge William Hart handed her a seven-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months. He told her: "I think you recognise you deserve simply to be punished. If I punish you it seems to me it would be punishing him."
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The mum was handed rehabilitation. She was also told to undergo an alcohol treatment requirement for up to six months.
James Haskell, prosecuting, said on an early evening in March the boy went to a neighbour's property and asked: "Can I come into your house, my mummy is not being very nice to me?" The neighbour heard the boy's mum shouting "You're never allowed in that address again!".
The mum was seen on her hands and knees, appearing to beckon her son back. Mr Haskell said: "The defendant tried to open her front door and fell over, she appeared to be heavily intoxicated."
The neighbour then saw the boy run off and the mum laying outside her house, before the child ran up to his unresponsive parent and said "wake up". Police were called and neighbours helped the mum inside and on to her sofa.
When police arrived the boy let them in and his mum was on the floor behind him. Mr Haskell said: "The police smelt a significant smell of alcohol. The defendant said she had epilepsy and the alcohol smell was hand gel.
"A one-litre bottle of vodka in the kitchen was empty, police helped the mum to the bathroom and saw cigarette butts on the floor. She was arrested and taken to the police station."
The court heard after being arrested the mum threatened to bite an officer before digging her fingernails into the officer's arm. When interviewed later she told police she didn't recall what happened, was devastated by her actions and the danger she exposed her son to.
Lucy Taylor, defending, said her client was seeking help for issues. She told the court the mum had struggled to deal with bereavement of her mum as well as the death in close proximity of two relatives due to Covid.
Miss Taylor said: "She says 'no-one could make her feel any worse than I already do. It is totally disgusting the way I behaved and neglected him on that day'." Since the incident the mum has shared parental care with her boy, the court heard.
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