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Father who “forgot” infant daughter left in car bailed pending police investigation (24 September 2014)

Date: 24/09/2014
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, Father who “forgot” infant daughter left in car bailed pending police investigation

A father who left his baby daughter alone in a car during a heatwave in August has been arrested on suspicion of child neglect and possession of cannabis.

The 20 year-old man was visiting a friend and parked his car at a housing estate in southeast London, leaving his four-month-old baby daughter strapped in her child safety seat in the direct glare of the sun.

The baby was rescued by police, after two wardens on the housing estate heard her crying and found her alone in the direct heat of the sun, with her face turning red.

Police officers had to force their way into the vehicle through one of the car’s two hinged windows, which the driver had left slightly open.

The baby was given water and rushed to hospital where she was treated for the effects of dehydration.

The child’s father returned to the car twenty-five minutes after leaving and admitted to police that he had forgotten about his daughter locked in the vehicle. Police arrested him on the spot. He has been bailed pending further police investigations into the incident and will return to the police station at the beginning of October.

A police spokesman said the child had been left alone inside the vehicle for approximately 10 minutes and was taken into care after hospital treatment. The child’s mother is now caring for her, however.

The child was left outside Evenlode House on the Peabody Gallion Estate in Thamesmead, southeast London.

Wardens Ben Ashworth and Chris Waite said they discovered the baby alone at around 2.50pm on 5 August – on that day, temperatures reached up to around 25c (77F) in London.

“The baby was crying and the situation was getting worse, as her head was turning red from the direct sunlight,” Mr Waite told London newspaper the Evening Standard.

“She was in obvious discomfort, but we couldn’t smash the glass without endangering her – it was very distressing.

“We checked the exhaust pipe, which was cold – indicating that the vehicle had been parked for some time,” he said.

The organisation Action for Children estimates that child neglect affects one in 10 children – and is the most common form of child abuse in the UK.

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