A Fife father who passed out drunk in a playpark and left his three-year-old daughter cold and “alone in the dark” has been given six months to prove he can be of good behaviour.
Dunfermline Sheriff Court heard the man, in his 40s, was found by police unresponsive under a swing and in the foetal position beside an empty bottle of vodka.
The court heard the young girl was cold and in tears, having been left unattended.
The father, who cannot be named for legal reasons, previously pled guilty to a charge of child neglect at Inverkeithing’s Whinnyhill Crescent on December 9 2020.
He appeared in the dock this week for sentencing.
‘Unresponsive’ under swing
Procurator fiscal depute Mat Piskorz told the court last month the accused and his daughter went to the park in the afternoon.
About an hour and a half later, a member of the public attended at the mother’s home to say she had seen the girl upset in the playpark, with her dad asleep on the ground.
The mother called the ambulance service, which contacted police as a crew was not immediately available.
Officers attended at the park and found the accused lying unresponsive, said Mr Piskorz.
It was not known for how long he was passed out for.
The fiscal depute said: “The accused was lying unresponsive in the foetal position under a swing.
“An empty bottle of vodka was by the accused and he smelled very strongly of alcohol.”
‘I am stupid, I should not have done it’
Mr Piskorz said the man was “breathing and grunting” when spoken to by officers but could not converse or sit up due to his level of intoxication.
A member of the public wrapped the child in a blanket to provide some warmth as she was “cold and crying.”
The fiscal depute continued: “When officers arrived they struggled to find the playpark due to how dark it was at that time and no street lighting covering that play area.
“The girl was left alone in the cold, uncared for, in the dark.”
A short time later an ambulance crew arrived and the accused was assessed as fit and released.
He was charged three days later and replied: “I am stupid, I should not have done it.”
The dad, who is from the Inverkeithing area, pled guilty to wilfully neglecting his child in a manner likely to cause them unnecessary suffering or injury to health, and drinking so much alcohol that he passed out drunk and left the child unattended in a public place.
Sentence
Defence lawyer Alan Davie said his client is remorseful and realises how lucky his daughter was that a passer-by intervened.
The solicitor said the man is someone who is already complying with a supervision order and doing reasonably well and is receiving assistance from alcohol addiction services.
Mr Davie said his client has a “greater degree of control” over his alcohol use now than at the time of the offence in 2020.
Sheriff Susan Duff told the father: “I can see from the report you feel absolutely terrible about this offence and no doubt you still feel terrible guilt every day about what could have happened.”
The sheriff deferred sentence for the father to be of good behaviour and to make progress on a community payback order and his alcohol issues.
Sentence was deferred to March 29 next year.
