Jail for boozy babysitter who fed drink to 12-year-old

A DRUNK babysitter who gave a 12-year-old boy so much whisky he had to be treated in hospital has been jailed for a year.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard the youngster was discovered in a semi-conscious state and was rushed to hospital where he received intravenous treatment.

Patrick Glynn, 40, was already under the influence of alcohol when he took the boy - who cannot be identified - into his care.

He later gave the child four glasses of whisky, which he reckoned would be about a quarter bottle of the spirit.

At an earlier hearing, fiscal depute Melanie Ward said: "The child then went off with the bottle of whisky into the bathroom and consumed approximately a further quarter of the bottle.

"There were two stages - the actual giving and then the not supervising and not ensuring the child was stopped drinking.

"The child began to vomit and fell into a state of semi- consciousness and was found by the accused's girlfriend who telephoned an ambulance."

Ms Ward added that a witness saw the boy was incapable of lifting up his head.

She said: "Police were instructed to attend also, and he was placed in the recovery position before being taken to the Sick Children's Hospital.

"He was treated at hospital with intravenous fluids and released the following day."

Glynn, of Craigmount Brae, Edinburgh, admitted wilfully and recklessly supplying the 12-year-old boy with whisky, knowing that the consumption could be injurious to his health.

The incident happened on November 28 last year at an address in Edinburgh's Craigmount.

Defence agent Ian Tweedie said: "Glynn accepts he was under the influence and he continued to drink and he gave the child a certain quantity of alcohol and failed to supervise him thereafter.

"Had he not been so intoxicated himself he would have realised the bottle had been taken and would have put two and two together."

Mr Tweedie added that Glynn did not have experience of bringing children up, which he believed contributed to the offence occurring. He also added that he suffered from psychological difficulties.

Sheriff Isabella McColl told Glynn: "In this offence, your culpable and reckless conduct involved supplying a 12-year-old boy with whisky to the extent that he was extremely ill.

"This matter had two stages, giving him whisky and then failing to supervise him while he went off and drank some more. It's clear there are no alternatives to custody in this case."

She added that the sentence had been discounted from 16 months to reflect his guilty plea and ordered that he be on a supervised release order for six months following his sentence.