Separated dad leaves 2-year-old son home alone while he goes out boozing (Great Britain)

Notice that UNNAMED DAD had visitation rights after separating from the mother--no surprise there. That's standard operating procedure these days. But get this. After leaving the boy alone for four hours while he went out boozing, he was worried he'd be "estranged" from the boy by going to jail. Hmm. Should have through of that before hand, Dad.

But not to worry. Daddy WON'T be getting jail time. Just a fine. How much you want to bet that this idiot will have all his visitation rights left intact too?

http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/Thanet-boy-2-left-home-dad-went-boozing/story-16847764-detail/story.html

Thanet boy, 2, left home alone while dad went boozing

Friday, September 07, 2012
Isle of Thanet Gazette

A DAD who left his two-year-old son alone at his home while he went drinking has been spared jail.

Neighbours were alerted to the boy's plight by the sound of wailing coming from the house at around 5am on Wednesday, June 27.

Prosecutor Julie Farbrace told Margate Magistrates' Court last Friday, August 31, how his frantic neighbours could hear the abandoned child screaming for his "daddy" but were powerless to help him.

She said: "They tried speaking to the child through the letterbox but were unable to understand him, yet it was clear he was in distress and crying."

Police were called to scene at around 7am and managed to get in to the house. They took the child into police protection and he was cared for at Margate police station.

The father was said to have arrived back at the house at around 8.24am smelling of alcohol and was arrested on the spot.

Neither the boy nor his father can be named for legal reasons.

Natalie Brown, defending, said though her client had told police he only been away for two hours he accepted it was closer to four.

The boy had been staying with his father, who had separated from his mother.

Miss Brown said her client was most concerned about the prospect of becoming estranged from his son, and was "ambivalent" about going to prison.

She said: "No punishment the court can hand down could be worse for him than not being able to see his son, and knowing his son may forget him forever."

She said while her client had been drinking alcohol he was not drunk by the time he returned home.

Miss said her client thought his actions would not be discovered as the boy did not usually wake until 9am.

The father left his son after getting a call from a friend asking him to come over.

District Judge Justin Barron told the man that it was not a case of him abusing the child but of "short-term abandonment brought about by your own ignorance".

He said: "Your own stupidity has resulted in this." Judge Barron sentenced the man to eight weeks in prison suspended for 12 months and fined him £283