Two terrified young brothers aged six and four climbed out of a window at their home late at night after their mother left them to fend for themselves for two hours while she went out drinking. HullLive reported one of the "distressed" boys knocked on a neighbour's door at 12.15am after they used a chair propped against a wall to climb out of the window and into the street.
Single mother Demi Heffernan had been drinking when she disappeared from their home, leaving the children inside, until she returned at 1.15am after a neighbour alerted the police. Hull Crown Court heard the boys could have been abducted by a stranger or a fire could have broken out while she was missing.
Heffernan, 25, of Little Beck Road, Bridlington, admitted child cruelty on April 1 last year. Richard Thompson, prosecuting, said that Heffernan had been drinking at the home of a female neighbour but, at 10.30pm, she left to put the two children to bed.
She intended to return to the neighbour's house but the woman waited for an hour for her to return and, by 11.30pm, she had not done so. The neighbour went to investigate and could see the children in the house but she could not see Heffernan.
At 12.15am, Heffernan's six-year-old son knocked on the neighbour's door and his brother was standing further down the road. The woman took them into her house and, after repeatedly trying to telephone Heffernan, alerted the police at 12.30am.
The police arrived but Heffernan did not turn up until about 1.15am. "The children were taken to be cared for by their grandparents," said Mr Thompson.
Heffernan was abusive towards the neighbour about the actions she took that night to safeguard the children, added Mr Thompson. Police saw that the children had pushed a wooden chair up against a wall to allow them to climb out through a window.
"The children were tired and distressed," said Mr Thompson. Heffernan later pretended that she had just been to her mother's house for five minutes and she was "irate" when interviewed.
She denied neglecting the boys and being under the influence of alcohol but admitted that she "had a drink". Heffernan claimed that the woman was "simply trying to set her up".
Heffernan had convictions for six previous offences, including public order matters, criminal damage and drink driving. Michele Stuart-Lofthouse, mitigating, said that Heffernan was complying with a community order imposed by Hull magistrates in November for threatening behaviour towards the same neighbour.
It included a tagged 90-day alcohol abstinence order. "She is remorseful," said Ms Stuart-Lofthouse.
"She is addressing her alcohol issues," she added. "She now appreciates the magnitude of her very poor decision-making.
Judge John Thackray QC told Heffernan: "You made the decision at 10.30pm to leave two young children fending for themselves at home, aged four and six. It must have been extremely frightening for them."
Heffernan was given a 10-month suspended prison sentence and 200 hours' unpaid work. No court orders were made in connection with the children in the case and this was later confirmed by the court.
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