35-year-old man given suspended sentence for child neglect

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

A 35-year-old man was given a two-year sentence, suspended in full for three years, for child neglect at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 19 December 2024. Judge Sarah Berkeley also directed him to continue attending addiction treatment services. He had pleaded guilty to one count of child neglect, concerning his nine-month-old child being left in a car in Dublin 15 on 21 October 2023. The proceedings were reported on 20 December 2024.

The court heard that the child was alone in the car for eight and a half hours, after the man said he had been drinking and could not remember where he had left it. The child was found unsecured, shivering and with blue feet, but later made a full recovery. Traces of cocaine were found near the gear stick and in a bag at the driver's door; the man admitted to gardaí that he had been drink-driving and did not know where his child was.

Judge Berkeley identified the decision to leave the house with the child to buy alcohol and drugs, and the failure to report the child missing immediately, as aggravating factors. Mitigation included his early guilty plea, acceptance of responsibility, rehabilitation, regular testing and a probation assessment placing him at low risk of reoffending.