Couple took baby on drink session

[templetonstoy]

Couple took baby on drink session

Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2008/12/30 16:37:46 GMT


A couple who took their baby son on a seven-hour drinking session have been given a two-year community order.

Mark and Petra Tyler, 46 and 24, of Reindeer Street, Mansfield, were arrested in September after being refused entry to a pub.

The couple, who appeared at Mansfield Magistrates' Court, pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to being drunk in charge of the four-month-old boy.

They were told if they reoffended they could expect to go to prison.

The couple were also ordered to pay £60 costs.

'Filthy bottle'

The earlier hearing was told the couple had planned to have a couple of drinks but "one thing led to another".

A landlord alerted CCTV operators who then called police when they saw the boy's buggy tipping from side to side.

The child was described by police as hungry and had a filthy bottle filled with sour milk in his pushchair.

Chairman of the bench, Paul Richardson, told the defendants: "In this case we would have sent both of you to prison for what we feel is an extremely serious offence, where a young child was placed in danger.

"We accept, however, that the effect of that sentence would be to punish you for a very short time that would have no long-term benefit in terms of stopping your offending."

Mr Richardson warned them they could "realistically expect" a custodial sentence if they breached it or committed further offences.