An Indonesian mother has blamed cultural differences for leaving her four-year-old son in a hot car on a 30C day while she worked out at a gym on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
The 29-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, faced Manly Local Court on Wednesday where she was convicted after pleading guilty to one count of “leave child in motor vehicle causing emotional distress”.
Judge Margaret McGlynn gave the woman, who has been living in Australia on a temporary visa for four years, an 18-month conditional release order requiring her to be of good behaviour for 18 months, the Manly Daily reported.
The court heard the mother gave her son an iPad to play with and left the car windows slightly open before going into the gym, where she worked out for 37 minutes on the afternoon of December 9 last year.
The car was parked in the shade, but while she was gone the boy was seen “screaming” and sweating by a witness who managed to put their fingers though the back window and hold the boy’s hand, which they reported as being “very hot to the touch”, the court heard.
The witness said the child was “red in the face, sweating and crying hysterically”, said “help me, help me”, and was crying out for his mother.
The mother then drove away after coming out of the gym and being confronted by witnesses, and police charged her on January 10.
The woman’s solicitor told the court his client was a loving family member and that cultural differences could have resulted in the decision to leave her son in the hot car, but Judge McGlynn rejected his submission.
“You don’t leave a four-year old child in a car alone for 37 minutes,” she said.
“It’s pretty basic”.
In an apology letter submitted to the court the woman admitted making a “serious mistake”, but also tried to claim her son only became distressed because he was scared by the strangers who approached the car while he was playing on his iPad.
“He simply said ‘help’ which may have caused people to believe that he was in danger,” she said.
“At the time, I wrongly believed he would be safe for a short time while I remained nearby. I now fully understand that this was wrong and that leaving a child unattended in a vehicle carries real risks and can cause fear, distress and danger, regardless of the duration.”
Header image: Stock image (Federico Abis – Pexels).
