File Photo. Corbis
A court has heard how a toddler was spotted leaning out of a first-storey window as her drunken mother snored in another room.
A passer-by raised the alarm at 9pm when he spotted the little girl standing on a bed frame and hanging out of the window of the property in Altrincham, Cheshire. The toddler was there for at least 15 minutes before the police arrived to rescue her.
The child had apparently been 'gurgling and shouting' causing the man - who was walking his dogs - to use a torch to locate the source of the noise. He then saw her hanging out of the window. As he tried to persuade her to go back inside, his partner called the police.
The girl's mother sobbed as charges of neglect was read out against her at Trafford Magistrates Court. She was arrested at the scene when police found her drunk and snoring in another room. Since the incident, she has had limited contact with her daughter.
Pleading guilty to the charges, she told the court she was suffering from stress and was not eating properly following bereavements. She also claimed she did not usually drink. She said: 'This is the worst thing that has happened in my life. I would have had to live with the result if she had fallen out of the window. I adore her, we have never spent a day apart before, I would protect her with my life.'
'I have learned a real learning curve, being separated from her breaks my heart. I have not drunk since. I am so sorry for what has happened, it is the biggest regret of my life having a drink that night. I just need the chance to be a mum again.'
She was bailed and the case was adjourned until May 17th for a pre-sentence report.