Toddler Left Alone for Six Hours While Mum Visits Prison
A woman left her toddler wandering alone for six hours while she visited her boyfriend in Pentonville Prison, a court heard.
On December 30 last year, the young child was found wandering in a communal area outside a block of flats by a housing officer. Ebtissam Yahya, 29, had claimed she’d only popped out for 15 minutes to buy groceries.
Mum’s Grocery Run Was a Prison Visit
In reality, Yahya was away for six hours at the prison, not Shepherd’s Bush shops as she insisted. Prosecutor Arif Ahmed revealed:
“A housing officer found the child wandering and contacted social services. It took 15 minutes to reach the mother, who said she was shopping for a gathering later that day. She claimed the child was asleep and unattended for just 15 minutes.”
But CCTV footage told a different story, showing Yahya absent from the flat for six hours, leaving the three-year-old completely alone.
Defence Calls It ‘Error of Judgement’
Dressed all in black, Yahya admitted one count of child neglect at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. Her lawyer, Theo Bunce, described the incident as “totally out of character” and “an error of judgement.”
Yahya, from Kensington, was granted unconditional bail ahead of sentencing on September 15.
