Courts / Dublin / Report

Suspended sentence for alcoholic father who left baby in car

Date
2024-12-19

Stage
Sentence

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

An alcoholic father, 35, pleaded guilty to one count of child neglect after his baby was found blue and shivering in a car in Dublin 15 on 21 October 2023. He had forgotten where he left the vehicle while drinking and had not reported the missing child immediately. Gardaí searched the area, locating the car at 4:55 am; the infant, dressed in a babygrow, was rescued, wrapped in blankets, and taken to Temple Street Children's Hospital where a doctor confirmed the baby had been exposed to low temperatures but had recovered. The court, considering mitigating factors such as the father's early guilty plea and expressions of remorse, imposed a two‑year sentence suspended in full for three years and directed continued addiction treatment. The baby was placed in the care of other family members until the mother returned, and the father had previously completed a five‑week residential rehabilitation programme.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Suspended sentence for alcoholic father who left baby in car. Charges or matters: one count of child neglect at a location in the Dublin 15 area on October 21, 2023. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

October 21, 2023 Other
2024-12-19 Publication

Why: The thirty-five-year-old man, who cannot be named in order to protect the identity of his child, pleaded guilty to one count of child neglect at a location in the Dublin 15 area on October 21, 2023. CNI source report

Case subjects

Unnamed man

Defendant

Charges: one count of child neglect at a location in the Dublin 15 area on October 21, 2023 (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: By Claire Henry An alcoholic father whose distressed baby was found blue and shivering in a car after he forgot where he had left the vehicle has been handed a suspended sentence. Judge Berkeley imposed a two-year sentence, which she suspended in full for three years.