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British Mom Jailed for Abandoning Two-year-old Daughter for Six Hours

by Gopalan on May 6 2009 11:09 AM

A British mother’s day out turned into a nightmare for her as she was jailed for abandoning her two-year-old daughter. The toddler was found crying in her soiled nappy by the police called up by anxious neighbours.

Kelly Grimes, 28, a single mother, gleefully went shopping with her own mother, leaving the daughter to fend for herself. Only a milk bottle was left by her side, just in case ‘she felt hungry.’

Swindon Crown Court heard that officers were called to the house shortly after neighbours raised concerns about the child's safety.

Police raided the house and found the youngster crying in her cot clutching an empty milk bottle.

She was wearing a heavily-soiled nappy - which had been secured with brown gaffer tape - and was hot to touch.

The heating had been left on and the toddler was dressed in a thick woollen cardigan.

Grimes, from Highworth, near Swindon, Wilts, was arrested following the 'wicked' neglect on September 22 last year.

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Grimes, who had been shopping with her own mother, was held shortly after her return at 8.30pm.

The toddler was subsequently taken away by social services and remains in the care of foster parents.

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Grimes was jailed for nine months after pleading guilty to wilfully neglecting the child and causing her unnecessary suffering.

The court heard that it was not the first time that Grimes had left the child alone.

Judge Charles Wade told her: 'You left your daughter alone for up to five or six hours without anyone able to give her the attention that she needed.

'You left her so that she was without food or water, in a soiled nappy in an unsafe and unprotected environment.

'That is an appalling thing to do with a child of this age, even wicked.

Stories of child neglect and abuse are making headlines in the British media regularly. The death of ‘baby P,’ assaulted most viciously by her mother’s boy-friend, raised widespread concerns over the inadequacies of oversight by local authorities.

But the Swindon incident and the like should raise broader questions on the cultural mores of the country.

Source-Medindia
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