Woman left child lying in distress

Jan 27 2009 by Les Stewart, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

A 10-MONTH-OLD baby was left alone for hours in a urine-soaked cot in a bedsit at a Perthshire hotel.

The youngster was discovered crying and in a distressed condition – in a room containing a large number of soiled nappies and dirty baby bottles.

The incident led to 18-year-old Kayleigh Yeats, of Kennedy Place, Pitlochry, appearing in the dock at Perth Sheriff Court.

She pled guilty to wilfully neglecting the child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in a room at the Merryburn Hotel, Birnam, on October 3 last year in a manner likely to cause it unnecessary suffering or injury to its health.

She left the baby alone from 3pm to 6pm while she did a shift at a care home in Birnam.

Depute fiscal Therese Oswald told the court that the accused had previously been staying with her mother but moved into the bedsit around six weeks prior to the incident.

About 6pm on October 3, the accused’s mother telephoned the hotel in a bid to speak to her daughter.

The hotel manageress couldn’t trace her but heard a baby crying and thought it appeared to be in distress.

The grandmother immediately went to the hotel and found the distressed child in a cot.

“Its clothes and skin were wet with urine, as were bedding and toys in the cot,” added Mrs Oswald.

“A large number of soiled nappies and dirty baby bottles and clothing were protruding from an open wardrobe and around the cot.”

“Mrs Yeats sen. was very shocked and took the baby from the cot.”

The accused was traced at the care home but when she was told about the baby being left alone, she “shrugged her shoulders and walked away.”

When the manageress went to clean the room the following day, she was so concerned and shocked by the “squalid conditions” that she reported the matter to the police.

The accused had been on a five-hour shift at the home which was due to end at 8pm. She said she had fed and changed the child about 2.30pm and went to work about 3pm.

“I just had enough,” she told police. “It was a snap decision. I had not made any arrangements.”

Sheriff Lindsay Foulis deferred sentence on Yeats until July 22 and ordered her to be of good behaviour until then.

A supplementary social inquiry report will be provided for that court appearance.