An Illawarra mother who left her two children unattended in a hot car for up to 20 minutes while she shopped inside Bunnings at Bellambi has avoided a criminal conviction.
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Police were called to the hardware store’s carpark just after 3pm on January 22 after a concerned member of the public, Sharon Paduch-Grebert, reported seeing a young girl and a toddler sitting unattended inside a sedan for at least 10 minutes on the “stinking hot” day.
Mrs Paduch-Grebert told Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday the car was parked in direct sunlight, with one window slightly down, and that she saw the older child, aged 10, making “agitated, abrupt movements” inside the car.
She said she confronted the children’s mother upon her return. The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, allegedly told Mrs Paduch-Grebert said the car’s air conditioning running while she was gone, however Mrs Paduch-Grebert said the vehicle’s engine was off.
She said she filmed the woman as she got in the car and drove away. She recorded the vehicle’s number plate and passed it onto senior constables Craig Sands and Amanda Grochowski, who arrived moments later.
Snr Cst Sands told the court he used a food thermometer from the store’s cafe to measure the temperature in the carpark. The reading was 34 degrees at 4pm.
The woman was charged with leaving a child in a motor vehicle in circumstances where he/she is likely to become emotionally distressed.
She pleaded not guilty to the offence, with her lawyer, James Howell, arguing in court on Wednesday there was no evidence the children were in a distressed state or likely to become distressed.
He suggested Mrs Paduch-Grebert was embellishing her evidence about the older child’s movements, noting she hadn’t given that detail to police when interviewed on the day.
Mrs Paduch-Grebert rejected the assertion under cross examination.
Mr Howell also challenged evidence from each of the witnesses about the high temperature on the day, producing Bureau of Meteorology weather readings that showed the recorded temperature at Bellambi Point that day was 24.6 degrees celsius.
However, Magistrate Susan McGowan cast doubt on the accuracy of the BOM readings and ultimately found the mother guilty.
She agreed not to impose a conviction after hearing that the woman had no criminal record and had been distressed by the entire incident.
“The assertions she’s somehow a bad parent has weighed heavily on her,” Mr Howell said.
The woman was placed on a six-month community release order.
