Woman left blind girl outside all night but escapes with warning

Kate Harper left the girl - who is deaf and blind - strapped to a pram outside her house wearing just socks and a dressing gown.

Harper had taken the girl - who cannot be named for legal reasons - to a fireworks party in Croftfoot, Glasgow, on Guy Fawkes night in 2009.

But the party soon turned into a drinking session, and when 26-year-old Harper took the girl back to her house she realised she had forgotten her keys and abandoned the youngster to look for them.

Glasgow Sheriff Court heard that a school bus driver discovered the child suffering from hypothermia the following morning when he arrived to take her to school.

Sheriff Kenneth Mitchell had deferred sentencing Harper for almost a year for her to be of good behaviour and yesterday admonished her, after she had received a positive social work report.

The sheriff added that his sentencing options were limited due to Harper's circumstances.

At an earlier hearing in April last year, Harper, of Glencroft Road, Croftfoot, admitted culpable and reckless conduct by abandoning the girl outside her home on 6 November, 2009.

Prosecutor Tony Quigley told the court that Harper had taken the girl to her sister's house which is in the same street for a fireworks party at about 6:30pm.

Mr Quigley said: "At about 8pm the accused and her sister and various other family members started drinking.

"Then at around 1:30am, Miss Harper left the party with the girl to return to her own home.

"At the time she left, the girl was wearing small cotton socks, a nappy and a child's dressing gown.

"When the accused arrived at her home address, she realised that she did not have her keys and couldn't gain access to the house.

"She then decided to go back to her sister's to get the keys, and as there was a relatively short distance between the houses she left the child at the front door.

"Unfortunately, what happened was that the accused got into bed at her sister's and fell asleep, which meant that the child was still in the pram outside her house further down the street."

The court heard that a bus driver and a classroom assistant arrived just before 8:30am the following day to take the girl to school, where she receives supported learning.

Defence lawyer Ross Yuill said the case was "tragic".

He said: "Miss Harper is a young lady who on one occasion has made a massive mistake. I think it's safe to submit that this was a one-off incident and the chances of it ever happening again are very limited.

"She is entirely remorseful, ashamed and embarrassed about what she did that night, and says that it was the biggest mistake of her life."